Older homeowners abandon plans to move
New research from the HomeOwners Alliance suggests more than 1.2 million UK homeowners aged 55 and over have abandoned plans to move in the past two years. Susan explores the three biggest reasons why - and what can be done.
The HomeOwners Alliance recently conducted research that suggests that more than 1.2 million UK homeowners aged 55 and over have abandoned plans to move in the past two years. I'd love to know whether you can relate to the research findings.
The three biggest reasons for not moving were:
- Stress of moving: 41%
- Lack of suitable homes: 34%
- Not wanting to leave friends or neighbours: 23%
Do these findings resonate with you? They certainly correlate with what I hear from clients and make perfect sense to me. Why would you leave an often much-loved home if the moving process is going to be stressful, move to an 'unsuitable' home and leave behind friends and neighbours?
What concerns me however is the number of older homeowners who end up staying in homes that become fundamentally unsuitable - not just from a desirability perspective but from a practicality and even safety perspective. The reality is that a proactive move often happens before the current home becomes fundamentally unsuitable - you have to leave the current home before you need to, because it's all OK; until it isn't.
40% of moves in later life are unplanned - meaning they happen at a point of crisis. That is much more stressful than a proactive move and can vastly limit choices for the next home.
So what can be done?
On the stress of moving: The moving process in England and Wales is stressful - there's no denying it. However there are ways to mitigate it such as being aware of the likely timescales so as to manage your own expectations, getting support from others - such as help with decluttering and packing - and working with people who build their services around you and will keep you updated and informed throughout.
On finding a suitable home: It's really worth thinking about what 'suitable' is for your current and future chapters. How you live now is likely not how you will live in 5, 10, 15 years' time. As part of our Future Planning Service we dig a little deeper into what you love about your current home, what's starting to niggle, what would you hate to lose, what would you love to gain, and how that might change in the future if circumstances change. You can do this exercise for yourself too.
By giving yourself time to explore various options for a next home you can challenge any assumptions you might have and gain clarity on what your priorities truly are. There's always a compromise to be made - consider what you might be willing to compromise on and why, and what is a non-compromise point for you, and why.
On not wanting to leave friends and neighbours: This is firmly rooted in the emotional realities of moving in later life and deserves its own subject. Social isolation is a huge problem across the board and there is so much pleasure, comfort and security to be gained from being in a community. I've been doing a lot of reading and research about the emotional aspect of moving in later life and will be writing about that soon.
You can subscribe to our newsletter on the website, and as always please do get in touch if you'd like to talk through your situation.
Susan, Founder of Turners Oak
