Downsizing Anxiety

[littlebitjumpy]

Greetings

My family and I have made the decision to downsize, mainly due to financial reasons. We've lived in a detached house for 11 years now (which we extended last year) and have recently had our offer accepted on a 3 bed semi. Other reasons are finding a better secondary school for our son as the one our daughter went to was not a good experience for her and the school in general does not have a good reputation. Our current house is very convenient for lots of things like my son's primary school being a 10 minute walk away where as his new school is a half hour walk which pushes me to hurry up and pass my driving test 😊as on a lovely day that's fine but on a freezing cold rainy day - not so much. The new house is in a much desired area with impressive views and picturesque walks on our doorstep, but my son's room will be smaller than the one he has now and the whole point of us having had the extension on our house was to get him out the box room and he will only be getting bigger although plenty of people have grown up in a box room in the UK I know. Sorry for rambling but I'm starting to freak out a little now. My parents don't agree with us moving as they think we should wait a couple more years and not take my son away from his best friend at school but we're not moving to Timbuktu! We're only going about 20 minutes away by car and his friend can stay over every weekend if he likes. Just to add my daughter is on the spectrum and we've recently found a good group for her in the town we're moving to where as there appears to be nothing where we live currently. Again sorry for the long post. Am I worrying over nothing? Has anybody else downsized and regretted it or was it the best decision you ever made?
Thanks for reading.

What does your son think about the smaller room and move?

He's not bothered about the smaller room. He didn't even ask for a bigger room in our current house. That was really me fretting he needed more room. He was initially upset about moving from his friend and said he wouldn't go but after telling him he can still see him most weekends and holidays if possible he seems okay now.

I don't really understand why you'd go through all the hassle of building an extension to give you more space and then very quickly decide you want less space??

I do crave a bit more space, but I think the area you live in is more important. The UK is so overcrowded and most housing estates now consist of ghastly rabbit hutches jammed on top of another. Because there is so little space, you only need one bad family and the noise can ruin your life. I'd rather live in a caravan in the middle of a field than a big house on some of the vile new estates near me.

The main reason is financial plus the extension we had was a bit of a disappointment in that it came out smaller than we imagined, in part due to the crazy insulation standards. The house has other problems that need fixing and the money is just not there. We live in a big house with no real money to spend on it which is pretty miserable. We haven't had a decent family holiday in years either. Buying this house would enable us to do that to.

I think your reasons for moving outway you staying. It's alot of money to spend every month on a house youre not happy in. If theres alot that needs fixing though you might have to take a hit on the price so keep that in mind.

I get the detached argument but then I've suffered with awful neighbours.. Not everyone is unlucky as I have been.

You have to do what's right for you and your family. And there's nothing worse with a child being unhappy at school.

We did a big downsize and relocation in lockdown, mainly due to my disability needs, best thing we ever did. We bought a detached bungalow, as we were used to being detached after 18 years. Is it the fact, it’s a semi? Do you think? Could you buy a smaller detached property?

Honestly, I would rather have a smaller house and enough money to live comfortably, than a big house I couldn't afford to do the necessary work for and which ate all my money.
So long as you have enough room, you don't need more than enough!

I think area is very important - you can change the appearance and function of a house but you can't do much about the surroundings.

See this as an opportunity to have a good declutter and a more streamlined home. Not saying it don't take some adjusting to, if you're used to a lot of space, but most of us just expand all our junk to fill the available room anyway, so focus on the positives - the holidays, days out, not feeling skint!

Thank you for the advice everyone. You're right the best thing to do is focus on the positive aspects, and get the holiday brochures out! 😎

Hi OP!

We're currently in the process of downsizing due to costs. We have two under 3 and one on the way, moving from a 4 bed to a 3 bed but the location and lifestyle the move will afford us easily outweighs the extra room in our current house. Yes, two our children will have to share. Yes, we will have to give up our kind size bed but we're so excited about the new life we'll all be experiencing together.

Size isn't everything ;)

No!!!! Downsizing is excellent. It allowed us both to retire in our 50's. We've done it twice now. But that's because we got the pension forms out - not the holiday brochures! 😄

Seriously though. It's a great opportunity to have a good clean out and simplify your life. Get rid of all that junk.

Downsizing sounds like a good option for your family and the new area sounds lovely.

It seems like the biggest impact would be on your son, which you're obviously aware of. How old is he? Is there any chance he could stay at his old school if it's still close? My daughter (age 8) is in a small single room and absolutely fine with it - a high sleeper has worked wonders in making the most of the space.

Has your daughter tried the group already in the new town? Just asking as it seems to be a factor in the move so you'd want to be sure it was a good fit for her.

Would driving the 20 minutes to your son's primary be an option so he can finish out primary there? I've driven further with some of mine to schools.