Election Bonanza for Self Storage

07/04/2010
                        

It has been predicted that the self storage industry could easily make up to one million pounds from former MPs after the election, according to advice website Storage.co.uk.

People moving house are the biggest users of self storage nationally, and the election could see an unprecedented number of current MPs needing to leave either their constituency or their Westminster home.

This is likely to give each one a glut of personal belongings which they may well look to accommodate in self storage units.

Some current polls put the Conservatives 10-points ahead of Labour, on 41%, which would represent a 9% swing from the 2005 election results. This would mean 152 current MPs are voted out of office. As there are definitely another 42 MPs who have declared they will retire it is likely that 194 MPs will need to move house – a number that can be increased to 200 to include variances in the polls.

If the average MP requires 200 square feet of storage space to accommodate their belongings then they could easily pay £4500 to have it for six months while they decide what to do with them.

Between 200 MPs this would amount to nearly a million pounds. And the figure could be even higher if the MPs wanted to keep their space for a longer time, or if only a small proportion of the retiring MPs are in seats that change hands.

Storage.co.uk also believes a hung parliament (the result of anything less than a 6.5% swing to the Tories) is likely to create a similar figure, despite fewer MPs losing their seats. This is because they will want the space for longer as defeated MPs stay in their constituencies to contest the likely follow-up election.   

MPs that have lost their seats will be unable to claim their self storage space on parliamentary expenses, an idea that may prove popular amongst the former constituents of those who became caught up in the recent scandal.  

Storage.co.uk is a new independent advice website for people interested in renting self storage space. It provides a storage centre finder, how-to guide, videos and blogs covering all aspects of renting storage space.