Spending the house equity on foreign holidays

|

SunLife asked 1,000 homeowners what they’d do if they had to choose between staying in their family home but never holidaying outside the UK again, or downsizing and spending the equity on foreign holidays. On average, 44% of those over 55 would downsize and the figure rises to 50% for 55-65s.

Interestingly, the willingness to release equity to travel nosedives above the age of 65. In the 65-80 age group, 62% said they would willingly never go on holiday abroad again if they got to stay in their current home.  There was very little difference between men and women. Women are slightly more attached to their family home than men (57% versus 56%).

Grandchildren are a game-changer

Besides age, grandchildren is the other big difference in the willingness of homeowners to release equity. 58% of those with grandchildren wanted to stay in their family home even if it meant no more foreign holidays, compared to 45% of those without.  The importance of grandchildren is such that when asked ‘if money wasn’t an issue and you could live anywhere in the world,’ those over 55 with grandchildren were the only group where the majority chose to stay in the family home (52%) versus just 35% of those without grandchildren.

Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash