Clear thinking gives North West a space advantage
HOMES in the North West of England are
the least cluttered and lose less of their value to junk than anywhere else in
the UK, according to new research from Clearabee, the on demand rubbish removal
company.
Clearabee's survey, which was conducted by research consultancy Populus, has
revealed that; on average; people in the North West have enough old and
discarded items in their homes to cover an area of 4.4m2.
Junk takes up space
equivalent to 5% of the living area in a modern 3 bedroom house, in the North
West. This property space is worth £6,020 on average across the North West.
With just 4.4m2 of junk on average, City homes in Manchester and Liverpool are
amongst the UK's least cluttered. Only residents of Oxford, Leeds and Edinburgh
hoard less junk per household.
Residents of Manchester and Liverpool enjoy an
extra 1.3m2 of clutter free space; sufficient to accommodate an extra desk or
dressing table and chair; when compared to people in Hull, who keep 5.8m2 worth
of useless or discarded items per household.
Across 3 million dwellings in the North West of England, £18.1 billion worth of
property space is currently wasted storing old or useless clothes, video tapes,
CDs, gadgets, furniture, exercise equipment and other assorted junk. 5.1 square
miles of household space is taken up with junk in North West England, an area
slightly smaller than that of Lake Windermere.
National junk portrait
Across the UK, the average home has enough junk to cover 4.8m2 of floor space.
This is equivalent to the size of a king sized bed and represents 6% of floor
space. With house prices currently at £2,054 a square metre, the value of space
wasted storing junk in the average UK home is £9,797. In total, UK residents are
wasting £259 billion worth of space storing junk in their homes.
80% of respondents to Clearabee's survey admitted to hoarding junk in their
homes. Old clothes, electrical equipment, magazines, video tapes, CDs, toys,
packaging, furniture and exercise equipment were the most frequently cited
examples of junk. 35% of UK homes store enough junk to fill a small bedroom.
The survey revealed that people store discarded items in a range of nooks and
crannies. Attics and wardrobes are the most popular locations, chosen by just
under half of households, while one in three people admitted to filling their
sheds, garages and under stair cupboards with junk. A quarter of respondents
stash things they no longer need under their beds. One in ten people simply
leave old items on the floor.
Other junk factors
► Not surprisingly given the space they have, owners of 4 and 5 bedroom
properties are the worst hoarders - stashing 5.6m2 worth of junk per household.
This is double the level of 1 bedroom homes (3.3m2)
► People living with children accumulate the greatest amount of junk (4.9m2).
People in house share arrangements have the least clutter (3.7m2)
► Junk tends to increase over time. The highest levels (5.8m2) were held by
people living in their homes for between 16 and 20 years. Those with less than a
year's residency had just 3.2m2 of junk on average
Rob Linton, operations director at Clearabee, comments:- "80% of people in
the North West admit to wasting space in their homes on things they don't use or
need. A proportion of these are losing the space of an entire room to junk.
We've become savvy at finding ways to store clutter around ourselves, but most
of us could get better at getting rid of it.
You don't need to be a master of feng shui to realise that a tidy house is a
tidy mind. Junk accumulates over time and steals valuable space in our homes and
minds. We know from our work that people feel a great sense of relief when they
eventually get rid of it.
One person's junk is potentially another's treasure, so it is always worth
seeing whether charity shops, eBay or a freecycling service could find a new
home for your unwanted stuff. Firms like Clearabee can help you get rid of junk
within a matter of hours and ensure it is recycled and disposed of properly."
Methodology
In April 2015 Populus asked a UK representative sample of 2,098 people about the
type, quantity and location of junk stored in their homes. The results of this
research was considered alongside data on property prices and characteristics
from:- the Office of National Statistics, the Halifax House Price Per Square Metre
Survey and the Royal Institute of British Architects to calculate the value of
UK residential space wasted on junk.
