Britons hoard £3.5 billion worth of unused, discarded items hidden away in their homes, according to a recent survey from NatWest FastPay, yet nearly half have never thought of selling them or don’t think that they have anything of any value.

What's more, over a fifth of all respondents, and 25% of those in the North West, said they had at least one unused item worth over £500 hidden away in their attic. It is no surprise however that 27% of those aged over 55 have an item worth over £500 hoarded away compared with only 9% of those between the ages of 25 and 34.

Common items left lying about include:

1% hold on to things that the kids did at school and 5% keep sentimental items. Londoners (17%) even hoard old paperwork. Over a tenth have over £500 worth of books and old-fashioned clothes stored away.

Despite knowing that they have a small fortune hoarded away in their homes, 76% had never sold any of their old belongings, preferring to store them away, primarily because they had never thought that they could sell them on (24%). Surprisingly, only 17% were holding on to them because they liked them or because they had sentimental value.

Car boot still popular

That said, however, of those that had sold old items before, the old British tradition of the car boot sale is the most popular outlet for making money out of unwanted possessions (35%). Others had advertised in newspapers (28%) or sold them on to friends (15%).

The use of online auctions to sell old goods is also on the increase, with 8% admitting that they had sold their possessions over the internet. Whilst this method is not favoured yet by the over 55s (6%), nearly a third of respondents under the age of 35 had engaged in a spot of internet trading.

David Head, Head of NatWest FastPay, said: "It's amazing to see how much money could be made if we were to simply look at the things that we have hidden away in our homes. The internet has opened up the world to buying and selling goods online, making it much easier to become an online trader and accept payment using online services such as FastPay."