Cash in the attic? Brits have up to £1,000 worth of clutter stashed away in their homes

Do you feel guilty about having clutter around the house? Don't worry, you could be one of the nine in 10 Brits who have a stash of clutter in their home worth up to £1,000.

According to research from Gumtree.com, over half of adults confess to not knowing the value of their clutter.

In Britain, we have been sitting on household items worth an incredible 5.7milion for almost 10 years.

Got a dusty box of video tapes in the loft? A third of us just can't bear to give away those old VHS and cassette tapes. Other frequently stashed items are clothes (62%), books (51%), and shoes (50%).

And 38% of us have enough unwanted stuff to fill a bedroom.

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There's a bit of a gender divide on clutter, too. Women feel guilty about their hoard - holding on to unwanted gifts - something that affects twice as many women (19%) as men.

And men are more nostalgic about getting rid of their belongings - 20% feel an emotional connection to their clutter. That'll explain the old Xbox and sports stuff gathering dust in the spare room, then.

The research of 2,000 Brits was carried out to mark the launch of Gumtree's Declutter campaign. Clearing out clutter would clearly be beneficial, as 60% of us admit it causes stress.

'One of the main reasons that people find it hard to let go of unused items are the emotional attachments that people make of them', says TV presenter and declutter expert Jasmine Harman.

'Putting a weekend aside to clear out lofts and cupboards is an easy way to to make some money by selling online and it's a way to make some much-needed space around the home.'

For more ideas on how to make cash from unwanted clutter, go to gumtree.com.

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