DO WE really need to own so much stuff when we could rent it?

I'm ashamed to admit I haven’t a clue what was discussed at the recent G7 summit, or what the outcomes were, but after it dominated the news for a week I know an awful lot more about renting clothes.

I knew next to nothing before, but now I know that, in fashion circles, renting is the next big thing. Carrie Johnson’s rented wardrobe of fabulous clothes hogged the column inches throughout the world leaders’ event.

She wore a series of rented outfits including one £265 dress that costs from just £8 per day to hire.

A fortnight earlier, she got married to Boris, wearing a rented wedding dress.

I quite like the idea of renting clothes. There would be no more frayed T-shirts, sloppy cardigans and jogging bottoms. I could appear in a new outfit every day, maybe a suit from Prada on Monday, a Karen Millen dress on Tuesday, an Alexander McQueen jacket on Wednesday and so on. I could dress to impress.

The thing is, I haven’t got anyone to impress, nor anywhere to go other than Asda, so it’s pretty much a non-starter. But had I an occasion in my diary to dress up for, renting seems the sensible option.

If, like me, you only ever go anywhere worthy of a posh frock once a decade, what is the point in splashing out on can outfit you will probably never wear again? Renting, especially at such affordable prices, is a win-win. I assume the clobber on hire is insured for red wine spillages and other mishaps. I’d need cover for cat hair before delivery too.

We Brits are a material bunch - we like to buy, we like to own. But when you think about it, renting brings many benefits. When I was a child my parents used to rent their TV, as did just about everyone else in the neighbourhood.

If anything went wrong you would call Radio Rentals, who came out to fix it. You didn’t have to worry of having to replace it if it broke down. Many people rented washing machines too, from the electrical shop in the nearby town.

My mother-in-law rents her fridge to this day, and proudly announced this when I admired it in her kitchen, telling us it would be “very expensive” to buy, but was cheap to rent. I didn’t even know you could rent fridges.

She also rents her home, and always has done. Having lived for many years in various European countries where renting for life is the norm, she sees no reason to buy. Yet in Britain we are obsessed with getting on the property ladder. Such is the pressure that many young people scrimp and save to put down a deposit on overpriced homes, when they should be out enjoying themselves.

Renting also offers freedom to move at will, whereas buying ties you down.

We should look at renting in many areas of our lives. I’ve been trying to buy a car for more than a year, and am now considering leasing one. It’s far more common than I thought, with friends - whose cars I assumed they owned - coming forward to recommend it.

Environmentally, renting is the way forward, helping our throw-away society to cut back on waste. If it’s cheap, without the responsibility that comes with ownership, what’s not to like?

From clothes to cars, the more I hear about renting the more I’m warming to it. Now I’m wondering of there’s a Rent A Husband service. I’d love someone to step in for six months and do all those jobs my husband promises to do but never gets around to.