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North Wales estate agent Dafydd Hardy Estate Agents offers advice to the increasing number of grandparents choosing to move closer to their grown-up children.
Dafydd Hardy, company director of Dafydd Hardy Chartered Surveyors and Estate Agents, says he has seen a rise in the number of older people choosing to move closer to their children so they can help bring-up grandchildren. But the North Wales estate agent warns the move can be very emotional as it often means leaving an established family-home and well-loved area. One of the explanations Dafydd suggests for the trend is that many grandparents now remain very active throughout their sixties and seventies.
“It’s certainly true more young people are having to move away from the area they grew-up in for work or study reasons, but nowadays grandparents are able to offer real practical help in raising their grandchildren and are reverting back to traditional family values. For instance the rising cost of childcare mean grandparents can help their children save huge sums of money just by looking after their own grandchildren.
“It’s certainly true more young people are having to move away from the area they grew-up in for work or study reasons, but nowadays grandparents are able to offer real practical help in raising their grandchildren and are reverting back to traditional family values.
For instance the rising cost of childcare mean grandparents can help their children save huge sums of money just by looking after their own grandchildren.
In fact it’s been estimated that grandparental childcare in the UK is worth £3.9billion. It’s not all about money though, living closer to your grandchildren means you get the benefit and joy of seeing your grandchildren grow-up,” said Dafydd.
"I understand how hard it must be though to move away from the area you love to be closer to your family."
“As professional estate agents we never try to influence someone’s decision, but we try to advise them to think through all the various options and scenarios that could happen. Such as, what happens if the parent has to move away with their work? The grandparents could be left in an area where they have no family or friends.”
Dafydd said: “If grandparents do decide to move then one thing that could make the transition easier is to rent somewhere for six months to get to know the new area better before fully committing to buying a house.”
“Just make sure it’s what you really want and your kids actually want you there!” Dafydd added.
Keith and Anne Sillitoe are planning to sell their three-bedroom bungalow in Beddgelert, Snowdonia, which they have lived in for over a decade, and move to within easy driving distance of their two grown-up children and partners.
Their daughter lives in Leeds while their son is in the Manchester area, so Keith and Anne plan on finding a house between the two cities. Retired IT consultant, Keith, said: “We love it here in North Wales, as we’re both keen walkers and have lots of friends in the area. We’ve obviously got lots of mixed feelings about the move, but in the end you’ve got to get your priorities right and family comes first.
Our granddaughter starts nursery in few weeks time and we want to be able to nip over and pick her up if our daughter can’t make it one day,” he explained.
“Our son’s wife is expecting their first child soon so we want to help them out as well.
At the moment we’re just too far away to help with any of the practical things and we’re missing out on the fun bits too, like meeting up at the weekend,” Keith added.
Dafydd Hardy’s top tips for grandparents moving closer to their families: