The recent blackouts in Texas were a disaster movie come to life. Up to 14 million people were without either power or clean water, in some cases for up to two weeks, and at least 71 people died. Deaths from winter storms or natural disasters are inevitable, but this wasn’t Little House on the Prairie: Texas is the ninth largest economy in the world, and the US is the wealthiest country in the world. If it could happen in the US, it could happen in Britain.
Indeed, Covid-19 and a no-deal Brexit were a wake-up call to homeowners. Liz Aitken, a co-founder of Carefully Sorted, a decluttering service, says that people’s hoarding tendencies have been exacerbated, especially after the great loo roll shortage.
