This is particularly bad news for people whose reason to move is to release equity, as these moving costs – stamp duty, legal fees, estate agents and removal fees – all eat in to their released cash.
In addition of these potential ‘downsizers’ (a ‘downsizer’ being someone moving to a less expensive property to get their hands on some extra cash), two-thirds will be out of pocket. Only those who own detached houses or live in London and the South East, can hope to release over £50,000 by downsizing.
For the 18 million Brits who claim that property will form part of their pension, this may come as a shock. The gap between income in retirement and desired income in retirement is £4,000 on average. That’s over £100,000 for a retirement of 25 years. And although £1,100 billion5 is tied up in equity in UK homes, it will prove for many that they are unable to access this cash by moving home.
Only a move from London and the South East would release more than £50,000. The table below shows that moving from London would release at least £99,000, no matter which region a person moves to. Moving from a similar size property in the South East to the North would release £60,256.
The vast majority of regions within the UK would not be able to release cash by moving. People living in Northern Ireland cannot move anywhere to release equity. A move would cost them money. The same is true for a number of different regions.
