How much does it cost to put your house into storage?

It depends on how much there is, which is why we quote each job. Our prices start from £18 a month including VAT for the smallest option. When you compare quotes, check whether the figure is an introductory rate or the ongoing one, and whether collection is included.

What's the cheapest way to store things while moving?

On the storage line alone, taking it to a site yourself is usually cheapest. Add van hire, fuel and two days of two people's time and the gap narrows a lot. Work out your whole cost rather than the monthly figure.

How long before moving should I start packing?

Start with the things you don't use about three to four weeks out: books, out-of-season clothes, spare bedding, the loft. Leave the kitchen and daily things until last, they're the ones you'll miss.

What items can't go in storage?

With us, food, plants, anything living, and hazardous items such as petrol, gas and fireworks. Most companies have a similar list, worth checking before collection day.

Do I need to empty drawers before moving?

For storage, yes. Full drawers open when furniture is tilted and the weight strains the joints.

Can I get to my things while they're in storage?

Not on the day. We return your things on 24 to 48 hours' notice, and there's no public access to the facility. Anything you'll need at short notice should stay with you.

Contents insurance is required and isn't included in the price. You'll need a padlock as well, ours is £8. Budget for both wherever you store.

What if my moving date changes?

Tell us and we'll work around it. There's no minimum period, though the first month's charge is the minimum fee. Bear in mind that free collection and return applies when you store for three months or more, so on a shorter bridging job ask for the collection cost up front.

Storage when moving house: what it costs and how it works

The short version

Storage between houses is usually needed for a few weeks, sometimes a few months, and the dates almost always move.
Two ways to do it: take it to a site yourself, or have it collected. Self-drive is cheaper on paper, once you add van hire, fuel and two people's Saturday it often is not.
Watch the introductory rates. Every provider we priced in August ran a half-price offer that roughly doubled after two months.
Our prices start at £18 a month including VAT, that is our smallest option, a house move is quoted properly rather than guessed at.
Wherever you store, budget for contents insurance and a padlock on top. Ours is £8.

What storage when moving house actually is

It's the in-between. Your completion dates don't line up, or the new place isn't ready, or the chain moved and now you're out on the 12th and in on the 30th. Your things need to be somewhere that isn't your mum's spare room.

The industry calls it bridging storage.

It is more common than it sounds. Roughly one in four agreed sales in the UK fall through before completion, the rate was 22.5% in April 2026 against a decade average of 24.5%, according to TwentyEA figures reported by PropertyWire. Plenty more complete late rather than never. If your move has slipped, you are in ordinary company.

There are two honest options and I'll put both of them properly.

The two ways to do it

Drive it yourself, or have it collected

You take it to a storage site. You book a space, hire a van, load it, drive it, unload it into the space. When you are ready you do the whole thing again in reverse. The space itself is usually the cheapest line on the bill.

Somebody collects it. A container comes to your door, you fill it, it gets taken away and stored, and it comes back when you say. You do not drive anything. That is how our self storage works.

Self-drive looks cheaper, and on the storage cost alone it often is. The comparison worth making is the whole cost, not the headline.

No van to hire, and no fuel or insurance excess
No day off work at each end of the job
We do the heavy lifting, twice
The loading happens once either way

See what yours would cost

Boxes being loaded into a Collect Storage trailer on a Kent driveway

I think collection suits most people most of the time, particularly mid-move when your week is already full. I don't think container sites are bad, I still think they have a long-term future and I intend to offer one eventually. It's a question of what your time is worth in the fortnight you're moving.

Lay both out and pick. You know your own diary better than I do.

What you actually get for the money

One container, 35 square feet, on the trailer

Prices at Collect Storage start from £18 a month including VAT, which is £4.15 a week. That is our smallest storage option. Every job is quoted individually.

I am not going to pretend a three-bed house costs £18 a month, because it does not, and you would find that out at the quote anyway. Our container is 35 square feet, which is what the trailer carries. How much you actually need is part of the conversation when we quote, and it is a conversation worth having before you start packing rather than after.

Quoted on what you actually have, not a guess
Free collection and return when you store for three months or more
No minimum period, though the first month is the minimum fee
Upsize or downsize as the move changes shape

Inside an empty Collect Storage container with the doors open and a box for scale

Four things I would check on any quote, ours included

Is it the ongoing price, or an introductory one
We priced several storage companies across Kent in August 2026. Every one ran a half-price offer for the first two months, after which the rate roughly doubled. One fixed-site company's 35 square foot space was around £156 a month at its standard rate. We run a first-month offer too, half off, and I would rather say so here than let you find it in the terms. The difference is that £18 a month is our ongoing price, not a number that steps up in October.
Is collection included, and on what condition
Some collection-based companies charge £129 or more purely to collect, before you have stored anything. Ours is free when you store for three months or more. A bridging job is often shorter than that, so ask for the collection cost as part of your quote.
What is on top
Contents insurance is required and is not included in the price. You will also need a padlock, ours is £8. That is true wherever you store, it applies to us as much as anyone, and it belongs in the quote rather than the small print.
Is there a tie-in
There is no minimum period with us, though the first month's charge is the minimum fee. You only pay for what you use after that. There is more on this in our guide to how much self storage costs.

How long will you need it

Nobody knows, including you, and that's fine. Most bridging jobs are a few weeks. Some run to months because a chain moved twice.

What matters more than the guess is whether the arrangement bends. Ask what happens if your date shifts by a fortnight, and whether that costs anything. With us, tell us when you want everything back and give us 24 to 48 hours' notice.

One thing to be clear about: you can't drop in and rummage. Your things come back to you on that notice, they aren't somewhere you can visit on a Sunday. If you need daily access to something, keep it with you rather than storing it.

Packing for storage, not just for moving

Packing for storage is slightly different from packing for a move, because things sit still for longer.

Books go in small boxes. It's the advice everybody gets given, and a big box of books is heavier than it looks right up until you try to lift it.

Clothes are better in boxes than bin bags for storage. Bags crease everything and they tear when they're stacked. Clothes you'll want soon should be in a bag that stays with you.

Chests of drawers are best emptied. Full drawers slide open when the piece is tilted, and the weight goes through the joints rather than the frame.

Label the side of the box, not the top, because you'll be looking at a stack from the side. Put the room and two or three actual contents. In eight weeks "kitchen misc" will mean nothing to you.

Photograph the back of the telly before you unplug it. It costs nothing and saves a small argument later.

Some things can't go into storage at all, ours included: food, plants, anything living, and hazardous items like petrol, gas and fireworks.

How ours works, and the bit that went wrong

We bring a container to your door on the trailer. You fill it at your own pace, we'll help with the heavy bits. We take it to our facility at Lenham near Maidstone, which has no public access and is monitored by 24-hour CCTV with motion sensors. When you want it back, 24 to 48 hours' notice and we bring it. There's a fuller walkthrough on how it works, and the towns we cover are listed on our areas we serve page.

A one-bed flat takes us roughly one to two hours to collect and store.

We opened on 1 August 2026, so I'm going to be straight about where we are: August has been a set-up month. Containers delivered and built, CCTV fitted, trailers collected.

The trailer didn't go smoothly. When we collected it, the door wasn't locking properly and it swung open on the drive. It was empty, and it went straight back to the manufacturer to be put right before it carried anything of anyone's. The logo on the front had also been set off to one side, which nobody but me would ever have noticed, and which I noticed every single time I walked past it. That's been redone too.

I'd rather tell you that than have you find out that a new company's first month is a new company's first month. The kit is the only evidence you have about how your things will be treated, and I'm not putting a trailer with a dodgy door on your driveway.

The logo, second attempt.

If you are not happy, we are not happy, so please tell us.
Adam Daly, Collect Storage

Work out what your move would cost

An instant online quote takes about a minute, and there is nobody to talk to unless you want there to be.

Get my price

If your dates have gone sideways and you're trying to work out where everything goes, our moving and bridging storage page has the detail. If you've only got a few things rather than a houseful, storage by the box may be the cheaper answer. If you'd rather just talk it through, we're on 0333 224 1199, or we can pop over and have a look if that's easier.

I hope that helps.

Common questions

How much does it cost to put your house into storage?: It depends on how much there is, which is why we quote each job. Our prices start from £18 a month including VAT for the smallest option. When you compare quotes, check whether the figure is an introductory rate or the ongoing one, and whether collection is included.
What's the cheapest way to store things while moving?: On the storage line alone, taking it to a site yourself is usually cheapest. Add van hire, fuel and two days of two people's time and the gap narrows a lot. Work out your whole cost rather than the monthly figure.
How long before moving should I start packing?: Start with the things you don't use about three to four weeks out: books, out-of-season clothes, spare bedding, the loft. Leave the kitchen and daily things until last, they're the ones you'll miss.
What items can't go in storage?: With us, food, plants, anything living, and hazardous items such as petrol, gas and fireworks. Most companies have a similar list, worth checking before collection day.
Do I need to empty drawers before moving?: For storage, yes. Full drawers open when furniture is tilted and the weight strains the joints.
Can I get to my things while they're in storage?: Not on the day. We return your things on 24 to 48 hours' notice, and there's no public access to the facility. Anything you'll need at short notice should stay with you.
Do I need insurance?: Contents insurance is required and isn't included in the price. You'll need a padlock as well, ours is £8. Budget for both wherever you store.
What if my moving date changes?: Tell us and we'll work around it. There's no minimum period, though the first month's charge is the minimum fee. Bear in mind that free collection and return applies when you store for three months or more, so on a shorter bridging job ask for the collection cost up front.