![\"Items](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5dec0c09-fbe3-46dd-bca9-4effaa04806b.jpg\")
Items for sale at Burstow and Hewett Auction HouseJon Santa Cruz for the times<\/p>\n\u201cAny advance on \u00a3400?\u201d the auctioneer asked. The room was silent. The hammer in Battle, East Sussex, went down on the George III mahogany bookcase at \u00a3400.<\/p>\n
Mark Ellin, auctioneer and managing partner at Burstow and Hewett, said: \u201cWhen we took this, the owner showed us his original receipts from 1989. He paid \u00a329,000. He didn\u2019t even want to know how much we might get for it today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sale, at a little over 1 per cent of its original value, reflects how smaller homes \u2014 prompted by higher rents and house prices \u2014 and changing tastes, have made second-hand furniture next to worthless.<\/p>\n
Auction houses routinely sell items for under \u00a3100, and in some cases can not even give them away. In short, it now costs more to buy cheaply made flat-pack furniture from Ikea than what were once highly desirable pieces made from the most expensive woods.<\/p>\n
Items for sale at Burstow and Hewett Auction HouseJon Santa Cruz for the times<\/p>\n
A dining table from the same estate, originally bought for \u00a313,000, fetched just \u00a3500, cheaper than the particleboard and oak veneer Morbylanga table from Ikea.<\/p>\n
Patience Edwards, a dealer who sells antiques at Hastings Antique Warehouse, said the change had been enormous. \u201cThe way we live in our homes has changed,\u201d she said. \u201cThings like dining tables \u2014 a lot of people don\u2019t have dining rooms any more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edwards, who has bought from Burstow and Hewett for 40 years, said some pieces were beginning to come back into fashion, such as dressers. She added: \u201cNobody seems to want tea sets for any money, no matter how nice they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are some bright spots. Ellin, who has worked in the family business since he was 16, said he remembered breaking up mid-century furniture for firewood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d take everything, even pull up the carpets. But when we found that Ercol furniture, we knew we couldn\u2019t give it away. So we\u2019d snap the legs off the dining tables, break it all up and throw it away.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few minutes earlier, an Ercol dining table had sold for \u00a3700. \u201cTimes have changed,\u201d he laughed. \u201cNow it\u2019s the one thing people actually want.\u201d<\/p>\n
The biggest change, he believed, was in how people value their furniture. \u201cPeople don\u2019t buy things just because they\u2019re antiques anymore. If it doesn\u2019t work for their home, people don\u2019t want it. But instead we see people having a look and buying what catches their eye.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Mark](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/31b96deb-8565-4112-a8ce-82ce6cd451cb.jpg\")
Mark Ellin with a knife and fork installationJon Santa Cruz for the times<\/p>\n
Luke Gregory, an auctioneer and former furniture restorer specialising in mid-century pieces, said mid-century style appeals to young buyers living in smaller houses. \u201cThose giant bookcases of old \u2014 where do you put them?\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut stuff like Ercol can be incredibly well made, they fit in smaller homes, and I think they appeal to people looking for smoother lines, a more minimal aesthetic.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Helen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/eb1f69dc-bcf0-4017-8c31-71b1b46fe200.jpg\")
Helen Gente with a ceiling light she bought for her house in CrowboroughJon Santa Cruz for the times<\/p>\n