Even here at Zoopla HQ, where we get to see fresh homes coming onto the market every single day, some of us are still guilty of staying put in homes that no longer suit our needs.
And we’re not alone. Our research reveals just over half of UK homeowners claim to be stuck in homes that no longer suit their living requirements, with the average homeowner saying they would need a further £125,000 on top of the current value of their home in order to afford somewhere that's suitable for them.
Whether it’s because we need more space, a bigger garden or just want to live somewhere different, we’re holding fast, rather than living the dream.
The thought of uprooting our kids from their schools, leaving friends or our favourite local neighbourhood pubs and restaurants is holding us back. Even if our homes are starting to feel a bit too small. It’s a price worth paying to live in an area we enjoy spending time in, right?
Here Zoopla staff reveal why they’re finding it hard to let go of their much-loved homes, even though a little part of them knows it’s time to move on...
Nic Hopkirk, Senior Editor
Moving status: not moving
My husband and I have lived in South London since we first got together 21 years ago, first in a flat in Clapham, then a terraced house in Streatham.
We’ve knocked through walls and converted our loft, but with two boisterous boys aged five and nine years old, I often find myself longing for a bigger house, with a bigger garden, in the countryside.
The problem is, the boys love their friends here and their school (and it is terrific, a real unique gem in London with lots of green fields, woodland, vegetable gardens - and yes, it’s a state school). And we’re a stone’s throw from the local Outstanding secondary, which is highly competitive to get into.
Plus we love the local restaurants here and go into central London regularly as a family.
A lot of our friends still live here. I worry that dragging everyone away from a world in which we’re all pretty content might just end up making everyone miserable. Yet I can’t help longing for a bigger place for the kids to race around in...
So, my workaround has been this: to become a member of the National Trust, Royal Palaces, Kew and the RHS. I let the boys run riot and have my moments of countryside-filled bliss at weekends and during the school holidays, as often as I can. And in all honesty, maybe that’s enough for now.
Debi Cox, Maintenance Team Project Delivery Manager
Moving status: planning a move in the future
Big change is not comfortable for me. For me, big changes need to happen for a really big reason and take a lot of mental preparation.
I’m already thinking about moving to another area in roughly three to five years’ time and by then, I'm hoping I'll be used to the idea!
But my home is no longer right for me. It’s the first home I bought 20 years ago and is now too small with too much stuff in it. (I craft, so my spare bedroom is multitasking as a very full music, craft and home office room!)
There are several reasons why I’m hesitant to move: I'm very attached to my choir, Capital Connection (pictured above), for whom I’ve been the musical director for nearly 20 years, and that's still important enough to keep me in the area for now.
I’m also recently mortgage-free and not too keen on the idea of getting another mortgage to upgrade locally, so I’m relying on another area being cheaper. That way I can upscale my living space and still have cash in my pocket for early retirement living.
Finally, my elderly cat is going senile and she’s only ever known our house as home. Our vet is conveniently close and I’m reluctant to uproot her to unfamiliar surroundings for her final years.
Charlotte Hooper, Senior Product Marketing Manager
Moving status: unsure
I’ve always really wanted to live in central London (we live in De Beauvoir Town, Hackney) but my husband wants to move further outside of London (he likes Forest Hill and East Dulwich).
So, from the start, one of us wasn’t going to be exactly where we wanted. (I won the first round, but that means he’s not 100% happy about the location.)
We bought a three bedroom maisonette as our baby was on the way, and we wanted to have an extra room for family and friends to be able to visit (or a room for a little sibling).
Then, with Covid and needing to work from home, we had to turn that third bedroom into an office. So we no longer have an extra room anymore (although we do feel very privileged to own a three bed home).
I love where we are because it’s close to lots of shops, restaurants and cafes. All of our friends live in the area too, so it means we can see them very regularly and without too much planning. I feel like if we lived further away, we would always have to organise seeing each other in advance, and that removes a lot of spontaneity.
Andy Summers, Senior Software Engineer
Moving status: On the market
We had twins back in January, in addition to our first child who is now three years old. With all of them being boys, we always knew we would need more space in the years to come as they grow.
Our bedrooms here are big but the communal areas and garden all feel small. Equally there are some decent primary schools around here, but once you get to secondary, it’s pretty slim pickings.
We’ve always dreamed of having a ‘forever home’. When we first moved here, it was before we had children and we thought that no matter what, we could make this space as great as possible and it would suit us forever.
We’ve made some good friends with the neighbours and nearby, plus Beckenham is a good blend of being close to central London and being leafy enough to feel like you’re out of the city.
But the truth is that no matter how much we maximise the space we have here, it’s still the same square footage. We’ve known for a while that we’d need somewhere bigger but never really thought we could have more space and strike the same blend area-wise, without having a lot more money than what we have.
My mum passed away last month and during that time we went to stay in some really nice cottages, close to family up north (where I’m from). They had huge communal areas and it really hit home to us how much better off we’d be with more space.
With mum’s passing we also inherited some money, which will allow us more freedom financially for our next place.
These events kick-started us into looking for our next place and we’ve found that we don’t really need to spend more or compromise on location requirements to get what we need.
We’ve seen a few nice houses around Eltham and New Eltham that fit the bill, it’s not too far to move, plus there’s a better selection of schools in our view. We’ve not made any offers yet but we’ve seen a few good candidates.
Dan Copley, Content Marketing Manager
Moving status: moved
We probably procrastinated for 12 months. For a long time, our home was perfectly suitable for myself, my wife and our baby. However, now the aforementioned baby is a toddler, we’ve got another one on the way, and we’re both spending most of our week working from home. Simply put, there’s not enough space for all of us.
The real issue is that we love our home and our area, Leytonstone in East London. The house has bags of charm and we’ve put a lot of work into it over the years. The area has everything we want too - great cafes, family-friendly pubs and easy access to green spaces.
Ultimately, we decided to move. In fact, our sale has just gone through. We’re not quite sure where we’ll end up next (we’re staying with family for now) - but we decided to cash-in whilst the market is so hot and demand for family homes is so high. We’ll probably end up slightly further out than Zone 3 so that we can afford a larger home than the one we’ve just sold.
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