SMALLER houses, apartments with no storage space and downsizing after a lifetime of accumulating possessions have created a huge surge in demand for domestic storage.

With no attic to store things in and the spare room more often than not a study, increasing numbers of people find they need somewhere safe, warm, dry and accessible to keep the things they cannot bear to throw away or may use only occasionally.

Although storage companies have always been around to service the commercial sector and accommodate those moving house, over the past five years there has been a massive rise in the number of firms offering to store domestic possessions on a semi-permanent basis too.

The Space Station storage company started up in Hyde 18 months ago. Manager Bud Froggatt says: "In America, self-storage is an established industry that everyone uses and although it is still in its early days in Britain, it is really starting to take off.

"With new houses, loft conversion living and city centre apartments offering hardly any storage space, many people are finding they have nowhere to put their family trinkets, furniture and treasured possessions."As a result, too many people are getting rid of things they should treasure for future generations or that actually could be worth a lot of money.

"Families often have heirlooms such as christening robes, wedding dresses, antique furniture, paintings, books and record collections that they want to keep safe and hand down. Self-storage is an innovative solution that provides long-term or temporary space for such heirlooms."

But it's not just family antiques and expensive collections that people are using the storage units for.

With the average house move costing around '7,000, a lot of people are deciding not to move and are, instead, utilising the space that they have by turning their spare room and attics into offices, nurseries or guest rooms. This means they need somewhere to house all those excess belongings. It's the same for people who are looking to sell their houses and need to de-clutter to entice buyers.

Bud adds: "More and more house owners are coming to us to store away children's toys, extra books, furniture and personal possessions while they try to market their houses.

"In order to sell their homes they need to make them look bright, spacious and airy - and in addition to this, buyers want a blank canvas to imagine their own possessions in."

Many people are also looking at storage units as a way of capitalising on escalating house prices. Ken Hill, from Access Self Storage, which has a warehouse on the Sharston industrial estate in Wythenshawe, claims that storage units are ideal for those wishing to downsize.

"Once the children have left home, you may not need all the space you once did," he says.

"People often resist moving to a smaller home as their furniture and belongings have grown with the children and now fill the house. But self-storage is a simple and cost-effective solution to this common problem and allows you to move to the home that suits your needs while keeping your belongings close at hand."

The growing trend for living in city centre apartments has also fuelled the demand for storage units as people look for space to store their excess furniture.

Danny Butroyd, 30, and his girlfriend Roisin Buggy, 28, are putting a lot of their property into storage after deciding to buy a two-bedroom apartment in the Castlefield area of Manchester which will have much less space than their current two-bed terrace in Stockport.

But, because they don't plan to live there forever, they are reluctant to sell the excess furniture.

"We like the idea of moving into a swanky new flat but it's a little smaller than where we live now," says Danny, who works in IT. "We've also decided to turn the second bedroom into an office which means that there will be even less space for all our belongings."The house in Stockport is already filled to the rafters but we're loath to sell anything because we'll need it later.

"A few years down the line we'll want to have children and move out of the city into a bigger place where there'll be plenty of room for all our furniture but in the meantime a lot of it will be going into storage."

James Leeming, also from Stockport, has chosen to put his property into storage because he is moving overseas for work and does not know how long he will stay there.

The 28-year-old, who works for promotions company Marlow International, is relocating to Australia for 12 months but will have the option of extending his contract at the end of that period.

"I'll be living in a fully-furnished apartment in Melbourne so there's no point in taking any of my stuff over for now," he says.

"I don't want to sell the furniture and there's too much to store at a friend or relative's house so this is the ideal solution.

"I suppose I could have stored bits and pieces at various houses but it's a lot easier to keep track of everything if it's all in one place.

"As I'll be across the other side of the world, it's also important for me to have peace of mind that all my property will be secure and kept in good, clean, dry surroundings and can be shipped out to me if I do decide to stay on."

When James decided to go with Space Station he gave them a general list of the items he wanted to store and they calculated the space he would need.

"When I went down to look at my unit prior to the stuff being packed away I was really surprised at how compact it was. I couldn't believe all my property would fit in there but it did!"

Businessman Robert Gibb relocated his family-run bookshop to storage units after deciding to sell his stock through the internet rather than a high street shop.

"For the last few years I've noticed a decline in the number of shoppers coming into the city centre to make their pruchases," he says.

"Although Gibb's Bookshop has had a presence in the centre of Manchester for more than eight decades, this fall in passing trade has had a knock-on effect on us.

"To counteract this I decided to run the company from home via the internet and it's been a great success."

"Setting up the website to sell his stock of antiquarian books, collectable CDs and vinyls wasn't a problem - but finding somewhere to store them was. He found the answer just a few minutes' drive from his home at Access Self-Storage in Wythenshawe.

"Best of all it's far cheaper and a more flexible option than renting commercial space," he adds. Tweet