Our guide to downsizing in Yorkshire

It’s often difficult to let go of a much-loved home that has more space than you need but there are many benefits to downsizing as you get older. Releasing equity is a big incentive, as is less upkeep. Downsizing can also combat loneliness and help you remain independent for longer.

Society also benefits as family-size homes are freed up to those who need the space. A new report from The Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, also featured on this page, emphasises this point.

Retired architect turned artist David Walshaw, 80, and his wife sold their detached house, near Settle, two-and-a-half years ago. The plan was to release equity and move to a small cottage but, after failing to find the property they wanted, they began looking at apartments.

“We didn’t want to live in a town and we didn’t want a flat but that is what we have now and we have no regrets,” says Mr Walshaw, who bought a two-bedroom apartment at The Cotton Mill, by the canal in Skipton town centre.

The mill conversion carried out by Rushbond impressed the Walshaws. “I could see they had done an excellent job so we decided to give it two years and move to a cottage if apartment living didn’t suit us.

“We are still here and that says it all. We like being able to shops and restaurants and there is a train station five minutes walk away. The only disadvantage is lack of storage,” says Mr Walshaw.

Other options for those who want more facilities, include an apartment complex for over 55s or a retirement village. The Red House in Ripon is a “village”. It has 59 apartments and cottages with access to four-and-a-half acres of grounds, a restaurant, lounge, library, bar, gym, hair and beauty salon and a craft room.

One bedroom properties start at £250,000 and two-bedroom homes from £350,000. Monthly service charges start from £565 per month and include 24 hour on-site staff, a call system, domestic help plus building insurance and maintenance. During lockdown, there have also been food deliveries, errand runs and daily calls to owners.

Sylvia Foxton, 87, swapped her village bungalow for an apartment at the Red House 18 months ago. She says: “Of particular comfort is the knowledge that there is a duty manager on site 24 hours but the main difference it has made to my life is not having so much responsibility for a property and for its upkeep, yet I am able to live a completely independent life.

“Also, having lost a few old friends, it has been great making new ones as one gets to know neighbours in the other apartments. Moving to the Red House has definitely been one of the best decisions I have ever made. I have thought many times that, if one has to be in lockdown, there can be nowhere better than here. There is no feeling of loneliness.”

Another option when downsizing is a bungalow and, while they are generally rare, they are still abundant in beautiful Bridlington. Prices start at about £120,000 for a two-bedroom, semi-detached bungalow.

Lockdown has heightened interest, says estate agent Nicholas Belt. “This situation has made people realise that they don’t want to delay retirement and Bridlington is stunning and its prices take some beating,” he says.

Residential park home sites with year-round residency are becoming more common. You can buy properties from £60,000 upwards. There are some good parks in Yorkshire but you should get a property lawyer to check leases, ground rent, fees and re-sale conditions before buying.

New report reveals need to encourage downsizing

Downsizing is crucial to tackling the UK’s skewed housing market, according to a new study by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation. It shows that almost 60 per cent of surplus bedrooms lie in households inhabited by the over-65s.

The report Too Little, Too Late? Housing for an Ageing Population by Professor Les Mayhew, Professor of Statistics at Cass Business School, shows that under-occupation is concentrated among the elderly where people tend to live in couples or alone.

It states that elderly people should be encouraged to downsize but the lack of age-friendly housing in the UK limits their options. Prof Mayhew’s analysis shows that if the situation does not improve, the overall bedroom surplus, where there is more than one bedroom per person, is projected to exceed 20 million in 2040, with nearly 13 million people above the age of 65 living in largely unsuitable homes.

This is linked to the UK’s ageing population, with growth in older households set to account for 36 per cent of the projected 3.7 million increase in the number of UK households by 2040.

The report reveals several barriers to downsizing, including a dearth of suitable alternatives. Only 2.5 per cent of the UK’s 29 million dwellings are defined as retirement housing and the stock is heavily skewed towards houses with three or more bedrooms.

Professor Mayhew said: “If more family homes were freed up by downsizing, the benefits would cascade down the housing ladder because it would enable families to upsize, allowing more first-time buyers on to the bottom rung.

“More efficient use of the existing stock would reduce pressure to just build more as a solution to the UK’s housing shortage. The demand is out there as baby boomers seek to redeploy housing equity into smaller, more convenient homes with independent living and easy access to services. This would also reduce pressure on local authority spending through transfer to care homes and allow more efficient delivery of social care to individuals.”

Prof. Mayhew’s report includes the following recommendations:

*A new government strategy on housing with a joined-up approach between departments dealing with housing and health.

*Local authorities should be required to have a plan for retirement housing, including identifying appropriate sites.

*The NHS should acknowledge the benefits of retirement communities to the elderly, such as health, wellbeing and more manageable social care costs. These are largely ignored in its long-term strategy and in planning services for older people.

*The Government should promote benefits of downsizing and incentivise people to do so before social care is needed.

*Stamp duty tends to jam up the housing market and can add significant costs to downsizing. Last-time buyers should be put on an equal footing with first-time buyers with property purchases of up to £300,000 nil-banded.

*House building priorities must change to cater for affordable housing. While there is plenty of interest in downsizing, surveys show that the number actually doing so is low.

*Independent guidance about the financial aspects of downsizing should be available to cover all aspects of the purchase process. The Money and Pensions Service is a possible vehicle for this.

*Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you. James Mitchinson, Editor