Clothes and sports gear you never wear? Use the "Warehouse of mum and dad"

[bijou]

Britain has long been a nation of hoarders.

But now the younger generation – not wanting to mess up their own, often small, living space – are increasingly relying on the old family home to store their share.

In a new phenomenon known as the "warehouse of mum and dad", a survey has discovered that parents are now looking after £2.4 billion worth of their grown up children's gear.

It is so widespread that one in five parents still views their child’s old bedroom as belonging to their offspring, despite them having moved out of the family home years ago.

And it is not just an inconvenience, it could also be a nightmare to insure.

John O’Roarke, managing director of Liverpool Victoria, which carried out the research, advised people to make sure they include their children's items on their insurance.

“Our research shows that we are a nation of hoarders, packing our homes with possessions that we just can’t bear to get rid of and even though we rarely use these items, we would miss them if they were damaged or stolen."   ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8561832/Old-clothes-and-sports-gear-you-never-wear-Store-them-at-the-Warehouse-of-mum-and-dad..html

[Karin]

It's just a hunch, but I think here in the US, it's more likely that if a kid tried that, he'd come to his parents' house to find all that junk had been sold or given away.  I was shocked when my mom did that.  I'd come home, "where did the piano go?"  "Oh, I donated it to a community center.  They needed one."  They wait till you go off to college, then quietly reclaim the house as their own. 

The proverbial example is the baseball cards which would have been worth a fortune, if mom hadn't gone on a clutter-removal frenzy. 

[bijou]

It's just a hunch, but I think here in the US, it's more likely that if a kid tried that, he'd come to his parents' house to find all that junk had been sold or given away.  I was shocked when my mom did that.  I'd come home, "where did the piano go?"  "Oh, I donated it to a community center.  They needed one."  They wait till you go off to college, then quietly reclaim the house as their own. 

The proverbial example is the baseball cards which would have been worth a fortune, if mom hadn't gone on a clutter-removal frenzy. 

Maybe it's because your's is a much bigger country and kids are less likely to make a surprise trip home to catch parents in the act of decluttering their children's 'treasures'.