Average Briton holding on to £1,600 worth of unwanted items, survey claims

Three in 10 British people describe themselves as a 'hoarder', according to poll

One in ten of those surveyed said said they have never had a ‘proper purge’ of old possessions (Getty iStock)

British people are holding on to more than £80bn worth of unwanted possessions, a survey has claimed.

The study of 2,000 people estimated the average British adult owns £1,600 worth of unused items.

Three in 10 of those surveyed said they would describe themselves as a “hoarder” and 10 per cent said they have never had a “proper purge” of old possessions.

The survey, commissioned by the online lender MYJAR, found that up to half of the self-confessed “hoarders” keep hold of their old possessions because they think that they will come in useful one day.

Around one fifth of those polled said they are not good at getting rid of things, but an equal number are holding on to unwanted items in the hope they might eventually be worth something.

One in five said they do not sell on their unused items because they are not sure of how much they are worth.

More than one in 10 said they have thrown away an item or given it away and later find out it was worth more than they were expecting.

The study also found 13 per cent of those polled will typically sell unwanted items, but just half will check the value of an item before giving to someone else.

Two fifths said they are still holding on to old mobile phones and nearly half have kept old books for a period before selling them on.

Nearly half of those polled said they regret some of the purchases they have made, with six in 10 saying they never use many of these items.

More than half said they wish they had not bought something because it was an impulse buy and a fifth they said they regret expensive purchases.

A spokesperson for MYJAR said: “We believe this research highlights a problem with overspending.

''People feel the pressure to buy things they don’t really need. There’s a general lack of financial education too, so a lot of money is spent unnecessarily.

“On average, people have unused goods at home that they could sell on, but of course the best way to keep your finances in check is not to spend unnecessarily in the first place.”

SWNS