Downsizing for retirement: real stories

Years of rising house prices in some parts of the country have given a lucky group of retirees an asset they probably never expected to have. Research by Prudential suggests downsizing your home can raise as much as £85,300. So perhaps it’s not surprising that a fifth (22%) of the soon-to-be retired population are considering moving to a smaller property, according to research by Saga. These 50- to 59-year-olds will join the thousands of pensioners who sell their family home and downsize each year to fund a new life in their retirement.

We spoke to some of those who have decided to make the move to find out whether they would recommend it.

Former music teacher Andy Dalby (53) and his wife Claire (51) bought their first boat 15 years ago, after their middle child, Neil, died of leukaemia at the age of nine. They have since sold it, and their family home in Thirsk, and retired to a yacht off the coast of Scotland.

“It is really down to our son,” says Andy. “He gave us the inspiration to do this. Neil dying made us look at life quite differently and find value in things that people wouldn’t normally find important.

“We always said we’d have some kind of adventure but never knew what. Over the years it became more attractive to have a boat and sail off into the sunset. In 2011, all our ducks were in a row and we knew if we put it off we’d never do it.

“So we sold our house for £130,000, which was six times what we’d paid for it in the early 1980s. Having already paid off our mortgage it was clear profit. We spent £24,000 on the boat and now live on it permanently.

“During the winter months, we’re moored in Troon and in the summer we’re completely nomadic and sail all around the west coast of Scotland. We have the same [money] problems as everyone else, but they’re much smaller. In winter, our electricity bill comes to less than £200 – I was paying that every six weeks in our old house. Our outgoings and scale of life are also much smaller and so are our worries, while our time is so much greater.

“Simplifying life is a good thing to do. It’s sad that we lost Neil and I’d do anything at all to change that, but if this story inspires people, it’s because a little boy inspired us.”

Josephine Walmesley (71) and her partner John (86) packed up their five-bedroom rented Georgian house in Norfolk 14 years ago and swapped it for a rural retreat in south-west France. Josephine now spends her days writing and pursuing her love of cooking.

“We bought a house near the Pyrenees for €70,000 [£50,000] and have lived here for about 12 years,” Josephine says. “We have never strived for a high standard of living (whatever that is). In the UK, we didn’t have central heating or mains sewerage, so in that respect much is the same.

“Council tax here is lower – it comes to around €600 per year and our electricity bill is cheaper too, at around €1,000 a year. We rely heavily on wood for heating, which comes to about €400 per year.

“We have more usable money now even though we haven’t got an awful lot of money as we only have our UK state pension. We spend, on average, €70 a week and don’t go without much. We eat plenty of fresh fruit, veg and fish, and have a glass of wine with our main meal, of course – which probably costs about 50p a glass. We are also able to go out for meals a lot more than we used to be because they are affordable.

“As with all retirees, we think about the ‘what ifs’ more than when we were young – deteriorating health, especially mental health, could be the deciding factor that would make us consider returning to the UK and the bosom of the family. But the quality of life here is definitely better. We certainly wouldn’t be able to live to the standard we do here if we were back in the UK.”

Since retiring, widower David Young (78) has been able to indulge his love of sailing. He sold the family home 16 years ago, downsized to a bungalow in the Medway and now spends most of his time on a 30ft motor cruiser on the Canal du Midi in France.

“When I was 62, I still had an £80,000 mortgage on our four-bedroom family house,” says David. “When the children had gone, we sold it and bought this bungalow for £75,000.

“I was able to clear the mortgage and still have some cash spare to completely renovate it as it was in a pretty poor state. It’s just been valued at £320,000 and I’d like to move as it’s too quiet here. There’s not much going on. The big excitement of the day is the postman walking down the street.

“I have always had a boat and in 1999, when my wife was alive and I was still working, we took it across the channel and moored it in the French canal system. When I retired, we set off south through beautiful villages and lots of locks. If we liked a particular place we’d stay there for three or four days buying the local produce, cycling to the bakers – it was a relaxing way of life. Every six weeks we used to catch a train to come home to see the family and then we’d go back again after a couple of weeks.

“Now, I go to the boat for two or three weeks every spring, summer and autumn. It’s my place in the sun – it just happens to float.”

Pauline (71) and Bernard Knight (78) bought a “wreck of a house” in Mailhac, a medieval village in France, and spent 13 years meticulously renovating it. They have since sold it, bought a boat and downsized their home in Kent to be closer to the shops and less reliant on their car.

“We thought it was silly to have two big houses, one in Dymchurch and one in France, so we sold them both and downsized,” says Pauline.

“In England, we moved house mainly because we were getting older and we wanted to be nearer the shops. We wanted somewhere where we could walk everywhere and not have to use the car. When we lived in Dymchurch we used the car almost every day. Now, we live in a three-bedroom house in Hythe, near my grandchildren.

“Moving here has saved us £70 a week on petrol but selling our big house didn’t release any equity – there was no spare money because we paid a similar price for the house we’re in now. Although I wouldn’t want a big garden again, having a house with a small garden has come as a culture shock.

“We still like it in France so we’ve bought a boat, which is moored in Ventenac. I love speaking the language and their way of life, but I wouldn’t want to live there – having grandchildren is a pull to stay here.”