Do you regret moving in retirement?

[Gangangoose]

DH and I are both retired, mid 60s. We have 3 children, one lives in a city around 30 mins away and two live a 1.5 hour drive away (different places).

We live in the fairly big four bed we raised our family in in a friendly but quiet village. We get on well with our neighbours and have local friends, although our closest friends are a drive away. We are very reliant on our car. The nearest high street with a cafe, a few shops and a doctors etc is an hours walk away and the nearest station and supermarket is at least 20 minutes in the car.

DH is keen to try something new in retirement and he and DC1 (who lives in the city half an hour away) both think we should move to this city. We’d be able to swap our house for a 2/3 bed terrace and could walk to our grandchildren, as well as to a supermarket, leisure centre, cinema, cafes etc. We could also walk to a station with a good connection to London which would be very useful for visiting DCs 2 and 3.

I can see the value in moving somewhere with more to do and where we are not reliant on our cars. I can find where we live a bit boring and cliquey. However, it is also where we raised our children. We know so many people here and have such a safety net. I love our house and would be very sad to see it go.

Has anyone else made a similar decision? Did you regret it or was it worthwhile?

@AmazingGraze but if you buy and runsomewhere smaller you can fund them for a couple of days Airbnb if needed

@AmazingGraze i was looking for somewhere with more bedrooms - mortgage would’ve been £1000pcm. Instead I have downsized with no mortgage. What an amazing air BnB I can afford for every other Christmas / the odd weekend with that £12,000pa!

@AmazingGraze I'm with you, it's not essential to find the smallest place possible as long as it's a good location and adaptable. We have 4 bedrooms and 4 reception at the moment, plus a large kitchen / diner. I would still want at least 3 bedrooms, two of which will only be used occasionally as bedrooms but when not used as bedrooms will be study and sewing / craft room. We don't have a mortgage so it would be a sideways move.
What I would want for sure is something modern or renovated so maintenance isn't an issue. Also a garden which can be made low maintenance but still appealing.
No grandchildren yet but having visitors who aren't actually staying because you have put them in B&B isn't very appealing to me or them.

@BitOutOfPractice yep - that's my view too - the only reason we have lots of space now ( and we rent)is the fact my H has 2 rooms to run our business which is an awkward one to do from many business premises as it involves very loud music and film at times -also £500 on our rent isa lot less than the £1200 it would take to have equivalent business premises

True but there’s also got to be enough space for everyone to sit, space in the kitchen , a reasonable garden etc. I never stayed with my parents when I had children. They didn’t have the space in their flat and resented any mess or disruption. Consequently we have no family memories which included them . They always came to us which put a strain on us.