Some 19% of people have thought about downsizing to manage the cost of living, research has found.
The Pepper Money Specialist Lending Study found that of more than 6,000 respondents, a further 28% had considered moving to a new area to reduce their housing costs.
According to the research, 68% of people have seen their disposable income decrease in the last year because of higher living costs while 31% said the reduction had been “significant”.
The cost of food bills has had the largest impact on disposable income, according to 92% of respondents, followed by 86% of respondents saying energy bills and 38% citing travel expenses.
To try and save money, 51% of respondents said they were buying less or cheaper food and 38% went on fewer or no holidays and trips. Half said they were cutting down on leisure activities while 31% cancelled their subscriptions.
Nearly half (46%) decided to put less money away in savings to deal with rising costs.
Moving and downsizing to save money
Paul Adams, sales director at Pepper Money, said: “Faced with such a significant ongoing squeeze on their finances, millions of households are looking for ways they can cut costs. Our study found the desire to do this is so significant for such a large proportion of people that 28% of all respondents say they have considered moving out of their area to somewhere cheaper, whilst 19% have thought about downsizing to reduce their housing costs.
“Whether customers are looking to move, downsize, or reduce their borrowing costs, brokers have a huge opportunity to help their customers to best manage the current economic environment and continue working towards the goals they want to achieve in their lives.”
