Had a busy week? We know the feeling, so we’ve cherry picked five property-related stories that have hit the news in recent days.
Downsizers can free up more than £1,200 a month (but beware the north-south divide)
Sitting pretty after years of house price growth? You could give your retirement pot ‘a significant boost’ by downsizing, according to a report from Savills that won't do anything good for the tension between Baby Boomers and Millennials in the great house price debate.
Its research shows that homeowners across England and Wales could unlock an average £305,090 by downsizing from a four-bedroom home to a two-bedroom one.
Based on the assumption that the average 65-year-old could live for another 20-odd years, that property windfall works out at £1,218 a month tax-free for the rest of their life.
Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, says: ‘Those approaching, or having already reached, retirement age have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of house price growth.
‘By moving to a property that better suits their needs, downsizers — particularly those in high value locations — can give themselves retirement funding a significant boost, particularly vital in the face of rising living costs.’
But before you hoist a ‘For Sale’ sign on your house, it's worth noting that the gains are not evenly spread across the country. Cook says the analysis ‘lays bare the north-south divide’ when it comes to scaling down.
Homeowners in London could free up the most equity by downsizing, releasing £2,523 a month. That’s three times more than those in the north east, who could unlock the least, at £826 a month. Londoners are followed by homeowners in the south east, who could generate £1,485 a month by downsizing.
'Those who live in typically more affluent areas in London and the south east have the option to use housing equity to make a meaningful contribution to retirement income, despite typically having slightly longer life expectancies,’ Cook explains.
‘For those in the Midlands and the north there is far less to be gained by downsizing and they’re therefore likely to leave downsizing until later in life, if indeed they downsize at all.’
A quarter of sellers gazundered
No seller likes to have a buyer chip away at the price they’ve agreed. But it’s been an all-too-familiar scenario lately if Open Property Group’s research is anything to go by.
A quarter (26%) of sellers have been gazundered in the last 12 months. And a third of those were subjected to it in the fortnight before they were due to exchange contracts, according to the quick sale firm.
Open Property Group’s survey of 1,001 people who have sold a home in the last year shows that the main reasons for chipping the price were issues thrown up by a property survey (35%) and buyers ‘chancing their arm’ (24%).
A whopping 78% of gazundered sellers accepted the lower offer, a sign of the buyer’s market that Zoopla reported last year.
Gazundering is ‘certainly more prevalent in cooler market conditions, such as those we’ve seen develop over the last year,’ explains Open Property Group CEO Jason Harris-Cohen.
We’re only a few weeks into 2024 but could an improving picture in the housing market keep a lid on gazundering?
And in other news…
- Selling a home in the UK takes almost three times longer than it does in the US. The UK is ‘by far’ the slowest place to transact (183 days), followed by Spain (152 days). Meanwhile, the best place for a quick sale is the US (69 days), followed by Canada (90 days). Home Sale Pack analysed the average time it takes to offload a home in 10 of the world’s busiest housing markets.
- Rental growth in January was at its slowest pace for 13 months and was in single digits for the first time in six months, according to Hamptons. Average rents on new lettings across Britain climbed 8.3 year-on-year. ‘While rental growth is slowing from record levels, it's set to remain sticky, running ahead of inflation for the remainder of 2024’, the estate agent says.
- Asking prices of homes listed for sale this month have climbed £3,091 (0.9%) to £362,839, according to Rightmove. It follows six months of annual price falls. The number of sales agreed as well as buyer and seller activity are also up on last year.
Housing market expectations for 2024 are improving. Here’s why.
Temperatures may be falling outside but the housing market appears to be warming up. Annabel Dixon lifts the lid on
Credit: Getty Images
Halifax reports surprise jump in house prices — but agents, lenders and analysts call for caution
The latest figures from Halifax are a step in the right direction, but there is plenty of uncertainty and negative
'Best conditions for years' for house buyers, and why billionaires are turning to renting
The inside track on London’s high-end housing market, how buyers are bagging an £18k discount off their next home, and
Credit: Getty Images
Over 65s in Britain sitting on £2.7 trillion worth of property — yet many are struggling to downsize
Despite choppy economic waters in the housing market, their main motivation for upping sticks are lifestyle factors, according to Savills.
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Haute dogs: How fashion’s finest would dress 11 dogs and one very spoilt cat if only they had the chanceWe’ve matched some much-loved breeds to the designers that share their history, temperament and vibe — because why not. Illustrations by Tug Rice.
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Utterly wonderful country homes for sale across Britain, from a 10-bedroom mansion to a Devon hideaway, as seen in Country LifeFrom an irresistibly charming house in Devon to a 400-year-old commutable home in Hertfordshire, here's our pick of some of the best homes to come to market via Country Life in the past week.
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Utterly wonderful country homes for sale across Britain, from a 10-bedroom mansion to a Devon hideaway, as seen in Country Life
From an irresistibly charming house in Devon to a 400-year-old commutable home in Hertfordshire, here's our pick of some of the best homes to come to market via Country Life in the past week.
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The London house where Rolls-Royce's co-founder Charles Rolls tinkered with his very first car is for sale at £17 millionCharles Rolls, the engineer and co-founder of Rolls-Royce, got his hands dirty when using the stables of this fine London home as a makeshift garage. Annabel Dixon reports.
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A vineyard for sale on the slopes above 'the best beach in Britain' is for sale at just £650,000In the beautifully unspoilt Devon village of Bantham, an award-winning vineyard is for sale. Toby Keel takes a look.
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This spectacular 14th-century castle has had its price cut by £7.5 million. Here's whyThe art and science of being an estate agent is never trickier than when dealing with homes that are being sold for the first time in centuries — and Ripley Castle in Yorkshire provides the perfect example. Lucy Denton explains more.
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A simply perfect thatched cottage in Devon, with charm, walled gardens and all the space you need for family lifeThatched cottages are often pretty, but pretty small — but Julie Harding finds one brings which blends cottage charm with the space of a country manor.
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'A rare gem' of a country house, in 163 acres of the idyllic Colne Valley, just 50 minutes from the CityThe Regency-style Over Hall in Colne Engaine is a country house whose previous owner has spent 40 years getting everything just right. Penny Churchill takes a look.
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Five home offices so good that every work day will feel like a holiday (well, probably)Five years on from the Pandemic, millions of us are still working from home much of the time — and thus the appeal of a home office is as strong as ever. They don't much nicer than these.
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A grand country house and 329-acre estate for sale at £1.89 million — and it's on the market for the first time in a quarter of a millenniumArabella Youens takes a look at the beautiful Monreith House and Estate on the south-west coast of Scotland.
