higher density living leads to storage dilemma

Brisbane, QLD,August, 2009 – According to the recently revised South East Queensland Regional Plan, over the next 20 years QLDs southeast will need to accommodate more than three quarters of a million new homes. As a means to meet this significant growth the plan highlights infill development, i.e. developing already established suburbs, in preference to the creation of new suburbs on the Brisbane city fringe.

The plan suggest that existing suburbs, including Indooroopilly in Brisbane’s west and Carindale, Cleveland and Chermside will move to higher density housing with up to120 dwellings per hectare. This is a continuation of an already obvious trend to higher density living, with many of Brisbane’s suburbs (particularly those within 10km of the CBD) becoming increasingly re-developed with smaller houses, units and apartments that have been built on what were once large, single dwelling blocks.

With higher density living comes smaller living areas, and often storage seems to be one of the first things to go in these designs for higher density accommodation. However, we are a consumer society, and face the dilemma of where to keep our ever increasing stuff in our ever decreasing spaces. As more people move to units and apartments, they need to either reduce the quantity of things they own, or get smart about what they do with it and how they store it. Increasingly the solution involves the clever use of storage space. Modern kitchens are full of innovative storage ideas and there are even specialist storage consultants that will come to your house and help you work out the most efficient ways to store your things.

Self Storage facilities have also seen a steady growth in popularity over the last few years. The Self Storage Association of Australia (SSAA) has identified strong growth in the Australian storage industry during 2008, but there have also been significant increases in average storage fee rates in 2007 and the first half of 2008. However in these tougher economic times, people are finding it harder to afford the costs associated with traditional self storage facilities and are looking for alternatives.

An innovative new concept called Private Storage is tackling this need for extra storage head on, and not only provides a real alternative to traditional self storage services – that is more convenient and cheaper than ever before - but also provides an opportunity for home and business owners to actually generate an extra income, by renting out spare or under utilised space.

The new online service at www.spaceout.com.au allows people to save or make money with self storage, through the use of unused or wasted space in homes and business within your own community. SpaceOut offers a comprehensive search facility to find a storage space that meets your specific needs, at a price you are willing to pay, in your own suburb – and maybe even your own street.

Higher density living is a worldwide phenomenon, and one that Australia is perhaps a little slow in adopting – but that is certainly changing The ever increasing pressure to maximise the use of our spaces – at home and work – means that we need to get smarter about how we store out=r things. Innovative storage ideas like SpaceOut are the way of the future.