Moving your Family

There are many reasons families decide to relocate, work, space and children or a combination of these different factors. Usually a move is decided upon to improve the family’s lifestyle.
On average people move each 5 – 7 years this sound very frequent but it is rare nowadays for someone to stay in the same property for more than 20 years. One of the most common reasons for
packing up and moving is because the family is growing. Anyone who has had children will understand the immediate impact this little person can have on your available space.

Sadly another common reason for a move is when a relationship doesn’t work out, when two people decide to go their separate ways. This just shows how much life has changed, many people think it is a shame that many of the old values have died. Personally I think some things have definitely changed for the better. I know my grandmother had a very unhappy marriage but as it wasn’t socially acceptable to be a single mother and as no financial support was available she had little choice. I do think however that not everyone works as hard at their marriage as they could do and compromise less and less.

The distance people move varies dependant on the area you live in, for those who live in the London area the average move is 16.5 miles. In the Midlands the average move distance is 30 miles property seekers in general are looking for properties within a 22 mile radius of where they currently live. Around two thirds of property hunters are not willing to move more than 10 miles from their current property.

Many families move to reduce commuting distance to work or because a new job requires them to relocate. Or they move to increase the size of their property so have to move area get more square footage for their money.

Another factor creating a need to move is as we get older our children leave home and many people decide to downsize. Financially this makes sense, instead of leaving all of our money tied up in our property downsizing reduces or eliminates mortgage payments. This is particularly important as we get older as most of us wish to wind down work wise and take the pressure off ourselves. Some of us help our children get started on the property ladder with any released funds. Many of us either move abroad to a sunnier climate or use released funds to purchase a holiday home.

It is also worth mentioning the fact that as we get older and head to retirement age and beyond there is no way of knowing how fit and healthy we will be. I bought my present home in Croydon from a retired couple who had lived here for twenty five years. The only reason they were moving was because the husband had a heart condition and the wife had to have a knee replacement. So it is not always a choice to move but a necessity, this couple had to move as the stairs were becoming a problem. I don’t think enough of us consider our long term housing needs but it is difficult to prepare for the unknown. I also know people over eighty who are as agile as I am and would not dream of leaving their home because of the stairs.

Families also move for their children, it actually sounds a little ridiculous put like that but my last move was for exactly that reason. Our previous house was situated in a new development and we moved there for my husband‘s work. We did not know the area at all but financially we were very limited with choice of homes so we bought the house that fitted most of our family’s needs within our budget. Luckily we made a good choice and the new, small, development our home was situated in was safe and friendly. Unfortunately across the road from us was the roughest estate around, this is not my opinion this is fact. From burnt out cars, graffiti and smashed phone boxes to kids drinking and throwing fireworks in the street (I think they are going to knock these houses down for the Olympics). To be honest none of this really bothered me until my Son approached the age of going to secondary school. He was not a particularly tough child and it gave me nightmares to think of him attending the local school and having a hard time. I also worried about the kind of people he would be mixing with although I know parents have very little control. So we hired a London removals company and moved to a nicer area with better schools, we had to borrow as much as we could to do it but it is worth it to see my Son doing so well.

Jenny Austin is an expert in removals, as a fully qualified financial advisor she can provide advice on remortgages