UPDATE (warning, it’s long): Sorry for missing this when people asked for an update. Hope this will be useful for anyone thinking of doing something similar. I realise it's not a popular move and that most people prefer the idea of retiring to a quieter house in the country but I’m glad to report that we have very few regrets.
We ended up buying our apartment before selling our house (equity on house of higher value than cost of apartment, so bank was happy to give us a loan). We moved to apartment in the city in late 2019. Little did we know that covid was about to hit!
3 bed apartment 70m2 (not in UK), exactly half the size of our house! DS1 was away at uni so not there all the time. DS2 was in last year of school (stayed in old school so some driving was necessary after the move), DD had to change schools anyway so she started in new city even before we moved there (also driving required before the move!)
Space-wise: DS1 was happy to share with DS2 when home (they get along very well), although room was tiny when bed was opened out for 2. All of us were excited to be in the city with lots of things to do, so there were no regrets about lack of space in apartment. DH grew up in a tiny apartment so he had no problem adjusting, and I’ve been learning to be less materialistic. I’m the one who needed to work most on just not having too many things. We got rid of A LOT of stuff and pared down our belongings. Such a relief! I don’t miss any of it 🙄
It was/is so great to be able to walk to cafes, restaurants, school for DD (first time she was able to get to school independently), cinema (renewed my love for arty films that were inaccessible before), etc. Plus, now that we don’t have a garden, we consider all the city’s parks our garden and love the running joke that our gardeners are doing a fine job for us 😀 Apartment is on a quiet street, so noise is minimal.
Dog poo on pavements, alas. So it’s not perfect. Also, quite a few homeless people and more obvious poverty is a little shocking.
Sold my car. It turned out that DH’s job provides a free bus to work so he doesn’t even need his car but it’s good to have one between us, esp in the first year when there was some driving to school required (though that was cut short because of covid). I work from home but I do have a couple of days when I work in the city, so that commute has changed from a 3-hour round trip in the car to a 30 minute round trip on foot.
Apartment needed total refurbishment but we decided to move in while doing most of the work with the option of moving back to our house during the bigger works, all the while getting the house ready to put on the market. Worked out well for a couple of hectic months. Luckily we got a lot done in that time new kitchen - there was nothing but a sink in the kitchen so that was urgent, new windows, painted most of the rooms… before lockdown.
Then covid struck and our plans went out the window (as everyone can identify with). We ended up in worst-case scenario - all 5 of us in apartment for about 3 months, about 6 weeks of which was the worst lockdown where we were barely able to leave the home. We managed!! We were just happy to be alive really with all the uncertainty about covid at that stage. We did miss our garden at this point!! When we were finally allowed out of lockdown we went to see if our house was okay and had a few pangs of regret - the countryside seemed really attractive at that stage!
Now, 3 years later, all 3 DC are away at uni and we’re on our own and LOVING the city. Lots of free concerts and events going on. Great food options. A short drive to the countryside.
Neighbours are all very pleasant, although there is a bit of a dispute going on between some of them, so maybe I shouldn’t talk too soon about that. We keep our noses out of everyone’s business 😉
Cleaning the apartment is a doddle (maybe partly because DC have moved out!)
Financials: When our house finally sold after covid delays, we banked approx the same as the cost of apartment plus all the renovations. But that was as we had expected. Now, our heating, water, travel, repairs, etc. are much lower, so we’re better off for sure.
We have a lot less space to heat, and with rising costs that’s an advantage I hadn’t expected. Plus the fact that we used to spend so much on petrol and now spend almost nothing.
Access to train station means kids have freedom to come and go easily without us having to collect them.
All 3 DC are home for the Christmas holidays and it is a bit of a squeeze but very temporary so okay.
Sorry that was loooooonnngggg!😂