One in eight households now have to pay to store clutter

Many British homes are bursting at the seams – and as a result one in eight (12%) UK adults now have to pay to store their clutter, according to new research carried out for mortgage and loans provider Ocean Finance.

On average, households across the UK are spending £16 a month storing items that they can’t fit in their homes – equating to over £1.1bn a year.  However, three in 10 households (30%) who pay for storage shell out over £20 a month to store their items. Just 11% pay less than £5 a month for storage.

The research found that younger people are the most likely to have to pay for storage – presumably because they are most likely to be living in shared properties or flats. Over a quarter (27%) of 25-34 year olds pay for storage, spending an average of £16.72 a month (£200.64 a year) to do so. And a quarter (25%) of 18-24 years are spending an average of £14.95 a month (£179.40 a year) simply to keep their extra possessions somewhere. 

Unsurprisingly, Londoners are the most likely to need to pay for storage, with a quarter of them doing so (25%), which is twice the UK average

Of those that that aren’t paying for storage, 22% admit that their garage, loft or spare room is “full of clutter”.  In fact a staggering 51% of all garages are used for storage (and just a quarter (24%) of all garages ever see a car inside them).

Ian Williams, spokesman for Ocean, says: "Across the UK many households find that they don’t have space for all the possessions they’ve accumulated. 

"Whilst “de-cluttering” has become an industry in its own right, for many people without the benefit of an attic, garage or spare room that they can dedicate to storage, then paying to store items elsewhere is the only option.

"Unsurprisingly, the issue is particularly acute in urban areas, and particularly in London, where a high proportion of people live in shared houses or flats."