Living in London gives you the freedom to visit huge city landmarks while also having everything else right on your doorstep. It may be busy, but there is no place on Earth quite like London. Owning property in any major city can be expensive, which is why it can sometimes be worth downsizing.
Downsizing refers to the act of selling your home and moving to a smaller property. As you would expect, such a move will come with the benefit of providing you with some extra money. However, there is a lot more that you need to know about downsizing in London.
Greater London
When people think of London, they are likely to think about:
- The Houses of Parliament
- Big Ben
- The River Thames
- The London Eye
However, anyone that has spent a long time living in London knows that these landmarks are all condensed into one tiny location known as The Embankment.
London is a city that is much bigger than people expect, which means that property owners are not only restricted to the direct centre of the city. This means that you can still have a London address, and all the transport links associated with it- when you downsize to a property in Greater London. This means that you can buy a much cheaper property somewhere like Croydon or Uxbridge and still downsize in London.
Decisions
Moving to a smaller property anywhere means that you will need to think about making some extra space in your new home. This means that you will need to make some important decisions about which furniture you will need to keep or throw away when you move.
Alternatively, you could decide to put some of your furniture into storage if you do not have space for it in your new, smaller home. A site like safestore.co.uk has a lot of storage locations in London. This is the perfect solution if you wanted to keep a piece of furniture with sentimental value or you find space for something you love much later.
Independence
The average age of people in the UK who choose to downsize their home is around sixty-four. This is because managing a large home can become overwhelming as you get older. It is much safer for an older person to manage a smaller area like a flat or a bungalow- especially if they are starting to develop mobility issues that can come with old age. As a result, many older relatives can maintain their independence for much longer if they downsize their property at the right time.
Inheriting Problems
A big concern for home buyers in London is that they are only ever going to own a property that has housed a series of previous tenants. This is going to mean that the property in the area, and that you are likely to come across some of the issues of an older home.
That is one of the key downsides of downsizing in London. It is very rare that anyone finds the space to develop any new properties in the area. This means that you are always going to be downsizing into an older property. As such you are likely to inherit all of the problems that accompany such a move. Luckily, downsizing your property can give you the funds to immediately address any of these issues.
Conclusion
Downsizing into another property is a great move if you do it at the right time. Fortunately, London has a lot of positives to make this process even easier for you.
