Top towns for downsizers

Huge number of people over 55 plan to downsize, with many looking to move to a new town.

The latest Prudential Downsizing Index has revealed that 2.5 million people are looking to downsize when they next move home.

More than 40% of over 55s plan to sell their current home, with 75% of them looking to downsize.

The top reason for wanting to downsize is that their current property simply has too much space (61%), while the convenience of running a smaller home is also a big factor (58%).

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Retirement hotspots

Around a third of downsizers want to use the move to a smaller property to coincide with relocating to a different town or city within the UK.

Analysis of data from the latest Census shows that Cornwall, Arun and North Somerset are the most popular retirement destinations in England and Wales for people aged 65. How about the rest of the top 10?

Local authority	Net gain of residents over 65
Cornwall, Isles of Scilly	603
Arun	366
North Somerset	333
Gwynedd	311
Eastbourne	280
Tendring	273
New Forest	264
Cheshire East	262
Conwy	256
Worthing/Wiltshire	247

And these are the places that older people are most likely to be leaving:

Local authority	Net loss of residents over 65
Birmingham	651
Brent	388
Bromley	361
Leeds	337
Ealing	332
Southwark	313
Harrow	302
Haringey	299
Newham	289

Are you planning to downsize? Will you relocate as well? Tell us in the comments below.

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Nationwide says house price growth slowing

Cambridge and London city hotspots for house prices