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Self storage soars as UK houses are too small

des_cartes
des_cartes Posts: 368 Forumite
edited 14 November 2010 at 3:24PM in Debate House Prices & the Economy
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-1291411/Small-homes-lots-stuff--wonder-self-storage-thriving.html


With the smallest houses in Europe and new houses being built that are too small for normal living, not only are Brits paying over the odds for houses, they are having to pay additionally to store things that people in other countries have room for in their houses.

"35 per cent said their kitchens were too small even to accommodate a toaster."
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Comments

  • pstuart
    pstuart Posts: 668 Forumite
    We've just emptied the loft again at our 12 year old house, heating bills are low, but as you say, no space for storage or the sofas that we see on TV.
  • pstuart wrote: »
    We've just emptied the loft again at our 12 year old house, heating bills are low, but as you say, no space for storage or the sofas that we see on TV.



    I read once that the likes of Barrat,Persimmon and Wimpey buy special midget sized furniture to put into their showhouses and when anyone unfortunate enough to buy one comes to furnishing it with normal sized furniture they find it doesn't fit.
  • They do do that and I suspect it's the majority rather than a tiny few. In the development close to where I live even the kitchen cabinets were obviously Wendy-House sized: they must have been three-quarters the depth of anything I'd seen before. And there was nowhere in a three-bedroomed house to store a vacuum-cleaner or ironing-board and there were no built in wardrobes in the tiny bedrooms either. God only knows how a family with a couple of kids would have managed. Perhaps they resorted to storing stuff in a garden shed?
  • Malcolm.
    Malcolm. Posts: 1,079 Forumite
    des_cartes wrote: »
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-1291411/Small-homes-lots-stuff--wonder-self-storage-thriving.html


    With the smallest houses in Europe and new houses being built that are too small for normal living, not only are Brits paying over the odds for houses, they are having to pay additionally to store things that people in other countries have room for in their houses.

    "35 per cent said their kitchens were too small even to accommodate a toaster."

    For me, this highlights a failure of unrestrained capitalism.

    I feel politicians should step in, and set minimum room sizes, like in (the rest of) europe.
  • halight
    halight Posts: 3,629 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Its funny that you have posted this as over the last few weeks iv been thinking of looking into how much it would cost to put some things into storage.
    :jYou can have everything you wont in lfe, If you only help enough other people to get what they wont.:j
  • harz99
    harz99 Posts: 3,688 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Home Insurance Hacker!
    They do do that and I suspect it's the majority rather than a tiny few. In the development close to where I live even the kitchen cabinets were obviously Wendy-House sized: they must have been three-quarters the depth of anything I'd seen before. And there was nowhere in a three-bedroomed house to store a vacuum-cleaner or ironing-board and there were no built in wardrobes in the tiny bedrooms either. God only knows how a family with a couple of kids would have managed. Perhaps they resorted to storing stuff in a garden shed?

    I thought that was what garages are for........................:D
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 14 November 2010 at 3:56PM
    My perfect house would have:
    - wall to wall, ceiling to floor wardrobe in the bedroom/s
    - a wall to wall, ceiling to floor cupboard somewhere to store 'everything'
    - a proper larder, I find that kitchen cabinets don't store things properly/waste space and most of the time I can't reach them

    Kitchens are the worst. You try to store "everything the same together", but then have a couple of bits leftover, and a couple of bits wedged in ... and your good plans go to pot. Proper larders, with space for a bag of spuds, long shelves so you decide what goes where - and you can see everything when you open one door.

    My stuff is currently in self-store. Wish it was closer though, it's a 20 mile round trip to either put more in or take anything out. It's also not 24/7, it's open office hours and Saturday mornings I think.... to be honest I've not even been for about 8 months. It's about £300/year all in... I keep thinking of moving it, but the only alternative is a 20 mile round trip in the other direction.
  • Callie22
    Callie22 Posts: 3,444 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts
    edited 14 November 2010 at 3:59PM
    They do do that and I suspect it's the majority rather than a tiny few. In the development close to where I live even the kitchen cabinets were obviously Wendy-House sized: they must have been three-quarters the depth of anything I'd seen before. And there was nowhere in a three-bedroomed house to store a vacuum-cleaner or ironing-board and there were no built in wardrobes in the tiny bedrooms either. God only knows how a family with a couple of kids would have managed. Perhaps they resorted to storing stuff in a garden shed?

    I agree - we've looked around a lot of new-build houses when we've been viewing rentals, and with the more modern houses there's never any space to actually store the stuff that you need to live on a day-to-day basis. As you say, there's nowhere for a vacuum, an ironing board, a mop and bucket or broom. A lot of places don't even have an understairs cupboard anymore, and 'double bedroom' nowadays seems to mean 'it'll fit a double bed, but that's it'. It's so stupid as so many new builds have en-suite shower rooms, but then no room for a wardrobe or even a bedside table ...

    I've got to a point where I get pathetically overexcited whenever I see cupboards ... A few years ago I lived in a 50s built house which had a proper larder cupboard and an old fashioned marble tiled 'cold' cupboard in the kitchen - as well a an understairs cupboard, full length wall cupboards in both of the bedrooms and a massive walk in storage space off the living room. The house itself was a nightmare but I still miss the cupboards!
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    harz99 wrote: »
    I thought that was what garages are for........................:D
    You don't even get garages now, unless you're paying for one of the top/executive style places. Now it's all car ports... car ports are rubbish.
  • treliac
    treliac Posts: 4,524 Forumite
    Before we bought our 60's built house, we looked at one or two new builds. I remember the smallest bedroom in a showhouse. It had a cot in it and I realised that if that were swapped for a single bed, I wouldn't even have been able to open the door!
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