As talk of a double dip and plummeting house prices abound, figures just out from Safestore, the UK’s leading self storage company, illustrate that more and more people are selling up and moving into rented, to sit tight and await the outcome of a significant drop in house prices.
Figures released today from Nationwide Building Society confirm that house prices dropped for a second month in August as the imbalance in supply and demand that drove prices higher in 2009 continues to unwind, according to the building society.

Safestore has seen unprecedented levels of occupancy growth in its storage business, 26% higher than the comparable period last year.

Company data has shown that one of the primary reasons for this is people selling their current properties and using storage to house their possessions, while they move into rental properties to bide their time before buying again.

This coincides with news that mortgage lending dived sharply last month to its second lowest levels since records began, down to just £86million in July, a significant drop from June's level of £518million, according to reports from the Bank of England.

'Understandably, people are wary about leaping into another house purchase,' Neil Riding, COO of Safestore commented.

'Trying to capitalise on recent house sales, our records show that more and more UK people are moving into rented accommodation to wait for the outcome. They will have sold at a peak in the market and are now waiting for house prices to drop off.

'House owners have become much more savvy about playing the housing market, particularly after the financial crisis and the availability of facilities like Safestore really helps them to be as flexible as possible.'