Temporary storage for stuff before moving to London

May 22, 2011 10:10 AM

Moving out of the UK in a week to travel abroad. Will move back to London in September. Where to keep stuff throughout this period?

My partner and I are currently living in Wales, but will be leaving to travel abroad in a week.

What we need to store:
* books (six cartons)
* clothes
* bed linen
* cutlery
* a few lamps
* etc.

No real furniture, no bulky appliances, except for a vacuum cleaner.

Unfortunately, we can't ask anybody to store our stuff.

I've been thinking of personal storage (I'm actually looking at Big Yellow's website right now), but I have no car to transport my stuff by myself.

How and where to store all that for ca. 3 months and not go bankrupt? Any thoughts much appreciated.

posted by noztran to Travel & Transportation around London, England (7 answers total)

The personal storage option is probably the most practical. To actually move it to storage, I would open up the back of you local paper / free ad circular / whatever and there should be ads for "man with van" back there. I have done that more than once. Everything you describe would likely fit into a transit in one trip so that should be easy enough to source.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:14 AM on May 22, 2011

I have no car to transport my stuff by myself.

Hire a van? Weekend/day rates on a Transit aren't going to break the bank, even factoring in petrol and mileage. Or, as DarlingBri says, 'man and van' services are legion. Your choice is whether to store locally, where prices might be cheaper, and sort out transport to move it down when you get back, or to look for something closer to London, where you might have more options, and move it before you leave. Given the time pressure, the first is probably the easier option, because you can deal with someone local.
posted by holgate at 10:21 AM on May 22, 2011

Option A: Hire a van and go to one of the commercial storage places. I would not go man and van, unless they are super cheap. They tend to have a minimum charge that is at least as much as hiring a van for the day.

Option B: You say nobody can take your stuff, but it is worth testing that again with a different question. I.e. does anybody know someone who can take x small boxes for 3 months at y price? Tons of people have attics, space in their garages etc. If you know someone friendly with a local farmer they may well have something for peanuts.

Storage space is cheap - the great marketing coup for storage space companies is making what used to be something you could almost always get informally for small items done for free a paid up option because we are too scared to ask our friends, colleagues and neighbours. Commercially, you are paying for ready access, which you don't need, for example.
posted by MuffinMan at 10:34 AM on May 22, 2011

the big storage companies tend to do very generous offers for the first few weeks you are with them. also streetcar is brilliant for people who just need a car or van from time to time. unless you are very, very short of cash you have lots of options.
posted by ascullion at 12:51 PM on May 22, 2011

Can't you ask a friend with a car to help you out for a couple of hrs and take stuff to a self storage place with you?
posted by koahiatamadl at 1:24 PM on May 22, 2011

I always use seven seas, which does personal storage and transport should you need it. I stored three very large boxes for 8 weeks AND got them moved from London to Scotland for about 150 quid. You could get a quick quote on their website.
posted by moiraine at 2:00 PM on May 22, 2011

I don't have any experience with their storage service, but Aussie Man & Van's removal service was exceptional when I used them to move house last year.
posted by CRM114 at 2:52 AM on May 23, 2011