I downsized from a four-bed to pay £30,000 for my two sons university

Sarah Able, 60, downsized her home last year to help pay for her sons’ higher education costs – and says she has no regrets. The mum of two from West Bridgford, Nottingham, moved from her four-bedroom home where she had lived for more than 12 years to a two-bedroom Victorian terrace in March 2025. Sarah sold her family home for £485,000 and bought her new home, just 20-minutes away, for £320,000. After paying off some loans and debts she had taken out, she had about £30,000 left over, which has put towards her boys’ education. Her youngest son had left for university and her eldest had got himself a place on a postgraduate medicine degree. She will use the money to fund a portion of her children’s’ tuition fees and living costs. “Supporting them through education has been and continues to be expensive and remains a priority for me,” she said. Shorts “The trigger for downsizing wasn’t one dramatic moment. It was more a gradual realisation that my life had changed, and my home hadn’t caught up,” Sarah added. After downsizing, Sarah has a small £30,000 mortgage on her new home. She is still working as a university lecturer and also co-owns re.dress_wb, which sells pre-owned clothes, with all proceeds going to local charities. “I am getting to an age where I would like some money for myself, but it is great that my sons got a place at university and so I need to support them,” she added. “I don’t regret what I’m doing because at the end of the day both my sons are very hardworking and are carving out their own paths,” she said. What surprised Sarah about downsizing was that the practical side of moving was far easier than the emotional side and accepting that “a chapter of your life has ended”. She added: “I realised I wasn’t just leaving a house. I was letting go of the idea that success looks like a large family home and accepting that life at 60 doesn’t need to look the same as it did at 40.” It cost Sarah around £12,000 to downsize when she factored in removal costs, estate agency fees, stamp duty and conveyancing fees. She said: “The biggest surprise for me has been how right the decision feels. I expected regret and sadness but mostly I felt relief. “If I’ve learned anything from the experience it’s that downsizing doesn’t mean downgrading. My new house is smaller, but my life feels bigger. It’s easier to manage, cheaper to run and has given me more freedom to enjoy things I’d put on hold for years. “My favourite moment came when one of my sons told me: ‘Don’t worry mum, when I buy a house I’ll make sure it’s got a big garden so I can build you a granny annexe’ – I will be holding him to that!” Recent analysis by Savills found there were 131,200 downsizers in 2025-26 with £462,500 being the average price of the homes they sold and £304,150 being the average purchase price of their new home.