Many older people choose to downsize their properties in order to gain increased financial freedom after their children leave home, one property firm has suggested.

Property Sale Solutions, a company which offers information on such subjects as equity release and downsizing, has stated that people choose to find a smaller property for a wide variety of reasons.

"Quite often it's for buying overseas property, which is quite a common thing. To supplement pensions is another - basically they want it to cut down on the monthly overhead that they're incurring," observes Ben Whitaker, managing director at the firm.

He added that while many older people have cleared the mortgage on their property, expenses such as council tax, insurance premiums and running costs are all higher on larger properties.

Meanwhile Saga, a financial specialist for the over-50s, has stated that first-time buyers looking at studio flats and small semi-detached properties are now subject to competition from the older down-sizing generation.