When you’re moving to a new house, transporting everything at once can seem like a daunting, and possibly expensive prospect.
Many people also find themselves stuck in delays and cannot move their items out of one house and into to the new property on the same day (for example if a new build house is not ready, or part of the chain is delayed, and you need to stay in temporary accommodation until it’s complete).
For this reason, many people use self-storage facilities.
These facilities provide rooms, or units, of varying sizes that you can keep your furniture and items in for a certain amount of time, be that a week, a few months or even years.
Can you combine removals and storage?
If you’re going to be using a removals firm to transport your belongings to your new house, it makes sense to ask whether your removals firm can also provide you with storage. There are many removals companies in the UK that have their own storage units that they can store your items in, for an extra fee on top of removals. The length of time they can keep your items for and how much they can store will vary from firm to firm. So if this is something you’re interested in it’s important to ask these questions off the bat.
While there are firms who do not provide their own storage facilities, many do have pre-existing relationships with storage companies and might be able to offer a deal for using one they are partnered with.
Advantages of this service
The obvious advantage of using a removals firm with a storage option is that it kills two birds with one stone. You don’t need to search for the two services individually but can sort them both at the same time. This can be especially helpful in situations when you are not expecting to need storage and so need to organise it in a hurry.
It will likely also positively affect your overall costs, as using a removal firm’s storage facility will often work out cheaper than paying separately. This is because the removals firm will want to give you a good deal as an incentive to use them. Also, dedicated storage facilities can be a lot bigger and more maintained, meaning they have more staff, security and land to pay for, bumping up their prices.
Another advantage of using this combined service is that, as removals companies already have the transport, they may help deliver and collect the things you want to store. This saves you having to go to the facility yourself to pick up or drop off items, something you would need to do for most self-storage, apart from
mobile self-storage. This can be particularly helpful if you are storing items while you wait to move into your new home, as the removals firm can take them straight to the house once it’s ready, meeting you there.
Other options
Remember though, that if you don’t want to use your removals firm’s storage option, or the firm you prefer doesn’t have one, you can still use one of the many dedicated self-storage companies around.
You might decide to use a self-storage firm, like
Safestore, if you prefer to leave your belongings in a facility with dedicated security and supervision of all its units. Trustworthiness is one of the main benefits of using a dedicated storage company, as storage is their only focus and all their resources will be dedicated to looking after your belongings.
You may also choose to use a separate storage company if the storage your removals firm provides is time or space limited, and you need to use up more space/ use storage for a longer time period. Most storage firms will let you store items for over a year and in units as big as up to 200 square feet. The price will obviously go up the longer you use it and the bigger the unit.
If the removals company you use is one that offers you a deal on a storage company that they partner with, remember that you aren’t obligated to use it. Shop around, talk to a few different places and see whether your removals firm can help you out with a great deal. After all, they’re the moving experts, it makes sense to take advantage of their experience on moving day!