An online study released this week showed that more than half of survey respondents regretted throwing away personal items just to save space. The study was conducted in the United Kingdom, by British self-storage company Safestore. Survey respondents especially regretting tossing out old clothes, photographs, and other items of sentimental value, such as family memorabilia.
Saving space is a topic that is frequently on the minds of Britons. In August 2009, a study conducted by CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, showed that of all Europeans, British have the smallest homes. About 45 percent of people in Britain say that they have just barely enough space to live in, while 50 percent say that they do not have enough space and their homes are too cluttered.
Willingness to throw out personal belongings to create more living space varied by region. People were more bothered by throwing things out in the East of England (44 percent regretted or felt they would regret throwing things away), the Midlands (49 percent), and in London (41 percent). People in Scotland, Wales, and the North of England were much more sentimental. About 55 percent of Scots, 52 percent of Welsh, and 53 percent of North Englanders said they regretted getting rid of personal items. They did not regret the choice to throw away all items equally, though. They particularly regretted throwing away the following things:
- old computer game consoles
- clothing and accessories such as belts and purses
- furniture
- family photographs and photograph albums
- wedding dresses
- sports equipment
- musical instruments
- old coins and coin collections
- Persian rugs
- old school books
COO Neil Riding of Safestore commented that he had seen a big increase in the use of Safestore's storage units over the past year. "Domestic customers are storing everything from extended wardrobes to antiques to toy collections, for a variety of reasons," he said. Britons' reasons for using storage, Riding went on, included "moving house; downsizing or decluttering; needing to store possessions during University holidays; redecorating or renovating their home or simply short of storage space." Riding argued that Great Britain is starting to see a self-storage pattern similar to that in the United States, where, he said, about ten percent of Americans rent a storage unit to use as a spare room.
Safestore is the UK's largest self-storage company and currently operates more than 90 facilities across the country. It has recently opened four new facilities, in Clapham, Leicester, Ipswich, and Cardiff. It plans to open six more facilities over the next 18 months to keep up with the present demand.