In a clever marketing move, U.K.-based Big Yellow Self Storage has initiated a ‘Rent a Room’ campaign, encouraging potential customers to move their clutter into self-storage and rent out a room for extra income. Aside from drawing untapped business, the campaign aims to alleviate the effects of the credit crunch on the residential customer base.
 
Based on its own calculations, Big Yellow estimates that households across the United Kingdom could make a combined total of up to £38 billion per year by storing excess clutter and renting out a room to a boarder. The income per household could be as much as £320 per month, the company said.
 
After commissioning two surveys of U.K. residents, one including 1,000 respondents and the other 1,065, Big Yellow found that approximately 36 percent have a room in their home that could be emptied with the use of self-storage. Nearly one in three said they would be willing to rent out that newly freed space.

The new initiative is being endorsed by Michael Holmes, one of the United Kingdom’s leading property experts and a presenter for several television programs including “Trading Up” on BBC-1, “Don’t Move, Improve” on ITV, “Scrubbers” on UKTV Style and Channel 5’s soon-to-air “Britain’s Best Home.“
 
“The [Big Yellow] survey showed some really interesting findings, and there are many more options for those looking for cash savings from storage,” Holmes said. “If you’re selling your home and renting a smaller property because of the slump, you could put your stuff into storage at Big Yellow, wait until the market bottoms out, and then buy back in. If you time it right, you could save tens of thousands on the cost of your next place, and have the flexibility to relocate quickly if you’re unfortunate enough to be looking for new job opportunities.

"If you can’t move, then why not improve and add space and value to you home?" Holmes continued. "If you have bought a bargain wreck to do up or are improving your current home, you can put your stuff safely into storage until the work is complete. What’s more, through the ‘Rent a Room’ initiative, you can even rent space and make up to £4,250 per year tax-free.”

For more information, visit www.bigyellow.co.uk.

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