Room for success amid homes gloom
THE downturn in the housing market has led to an upturn in business for Billingham firm Box Clever.
The storage firm said it was on course to increase profits by 9% this year thanks to a 12% rise in turnover following a deluge of inquiries from householders trying to de-clutter their homes.
Fiona Tinman, of Box Clever, said: “Business has been strong throughout the year, but there have definitely been more enquiries from people looking to de-clutter. When the housing market was booming we used to get a lot of business from people who needed storage because their new homes weren’t being built quick enough. Now it’s the opposite with people preferring to stay put and make more space.”
Rentals for Box Clever’s storage units are up 25% on the same period last year with inquiries increasing by 19%.
The company has capitalised on a housing slump which could see up to 1.2m homeowners fall into negative equity, according to the Bank of England’s latest Financial Stability Report. Meanwhile, the Centre for Economics and Business Research has predicted house prices will fall 25% from their peak to a trough at the end of 2009, plunging around 2.5m homeowners into negative equity.
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