In a Design Council study, respondents listed ‘garden/outdoor space’, ‘size of rooms’ and ‘overall size’ as the 2nd, 5th, and 10th most important house features.
In short, the size and space of a house matters a lot to people.
So, upsizing is naturally on many homeowners’ minds.
Read on to find out more about it.
What is upsizing?
Upsizing involves increasing the size of the property you live in. It can be done in two different ways:
1. Buying a larger one
When people talk about upsizing in the context of property, they are usually referring to moving to a larger property.
This is often done by selling your current property, taking out a larger mortgage, and buying a larger home.
However, sometimes it’s done by moving to a different location, where house prices are cheaper.
If you’re upsizing by moving into a different house, you’ll need to manage your finances carefully.
Speak to your estate agent to ensure you time your sale and purchase well. This avoids you being homeless for a period.
Do I need a new mortgage to upsize house?
Not necessarily. In many cases, you will take out a new mortgage when you buy a new house.
But you can also ‘port’ your mortgage onto your new property. This means that the terms and size of the mortgage remain the same.
2. Extending your property
There are several things you can do to increase your square footage, such as:
- Build an extension
- Add a dormer addition
- Carry out a loft conversion
- Add a building at the bottom of your garden.
You should ensure you have all the relevant planning permission before doing any of these.
Reasons to upsize house
Increasing family size
A common explanation is that the number of people in your family has increased.
Perhaps you have had a child. Or maybe an elderly relative has moved in with you.
Both scenarios require more bedrooms and more storage space.
Lifestyle benefits
Upsizing your home can offer benefits to your lifestyle. It’ll be easier to host parties with friends.
And if it gives you a large garden, you and your family can play outdoors safely.
Location change
Sometimes, upsizing your house size is a natural consequence of moving to a nicer area.
Towns with high property values tend to have more square footage.
If you want to live there, perhaps because it’s safer or the schools are better, then upsizing could be necessary.
Increased income/capital
You might upsize because your financial position has improved. This could be because your salary has gone up significantly since you first bought your house.
Or maybe you’ve sold a company or received an inheritance.
This extra money allows you to build equity in a larger property, which thus has a greater resale value further down the line.
As an investment
Upsizing can also be seen as part of a property investment strategy. Larger houses generally make more profit.
If you are upsizing for this reason, you mustn’t spend more money on upsizing than you’ll get when you eventually sell it.
Calculating this can be difficult, as you cannot accurately predict future market conditions. But speaking to property market professionals could help guide your decision.
Things to keep in mind when upsizing
Think about the far future when you consider upsizing.
Just because you’ve got limited space in your home currently, doesn’t mean it will always be the case. Children might move out or elderly relatives could pass away.
And if you need to downsize, you could lose the financial gains from upsizing.
Speak to a tax expert about how upsizing can affect your finances in the short and long-term. For example, there could be more stamp duty to pay.
And remember to budget for increased bills when you upsize, too – because larger properties are more costly to maintain.
