they're not making any more of it (unless, of course, you count Hawaii's volcanic islands which makes new bits of itself as one of your places of residence).
In London, not surprisingly, your flat or house might be crammed to the proverbial rafters with the stuff accumulated over the years. For comparison, the average UK home - including older and new-build properties is 85 sq m and has 5.2 rooms. As we know, in the ‘right’ postcodes, in London, studios not much bigger than a monk’s cell can be a faintly eye-watering amount.
If ‘shoebox’ is the norm, you're faced with a choice: live in clutter or pay steep prices for a storage unit. How steep? Well, that's what we're about to try and find out, as we seek out a budget storage unit.
Shurgard, who have locations littered around London and the South East of England, make impressive claims, with an offer running until to the 31st December 2018 foor new customers: only £1 to pay for first month's rental of a storage unit based on 10 square foot. This is essentially a narrow closet, good for holding a stack of up to 10 medium size boxes (vertical stacking not recommended by fragile items and glasswear!). With Shurgard, there's no minimum length on the stay, but this price does exclude admin fees -- £15 when you sign your first contract.
As you might expect, their prices vary by size, location, and those hard-to-come-by online specials. It pays to act at the right time, and in the right location. Seen calculating an average price will be elusive, but their banner does not include 'best price' for marketing spin alone.
For example, based on the postcode ‘W4’, close by to our very own Gago offices, we found Shurgard Gypsy Corner near White City offering:
10 square foot £8.08 / week Online Special (Normally £10.52 / week)
15 square foot £9.69 / week Online Special (Normally £12.74 / week)
20 square foot £14.08 / week Online Special (Normally £18.55 / week)
30 square foot £17.54 / week Online Special (Normally £22.98 / week)
These prices should only be taken as an indication but are by far the cheapest we’ve seen, bar Storing.com, who are also very, very good.
The only feasible cheaper alternative would be a favour from a friend, to store at theirs – who said we don’t have good ideas?
Big Yellow Self-Storage is just as worthy, however. At the time of writing, November 2018, they offer 50% off for the first eight weeks -- good for quick home movers -- and a price-matching promise. The terms and conditions are worth examining.
For comparison, Gago Movers Ltd., a currently small-time but reliable and rated player in the world of London’s storage offer a partnership with Big Red Storage offer
- 15 sq ft (3 ft x 5 ft x 10 ft) - £15.69/ week
- 20 sq ft (3 ft x 6.5 ft x 10 ft) - £20.08/ week
- 30 sq ft (5 ft x 6 ft x 10 ft) - £25.00/ week
- 50 sq ft (6.3 ft x 8 ft x 10 ft) - £30.00/ week
- 100 sq ft (8 ft x 12.5 ft x 10 ft) - £50.54/ week
- 200 sq ft (13 ft x 15 ft x 10 ft) - £125/ week
While we can’t offer some of the large discounts that economies of scale can offer, we promise to do our best to offer you the best possible price match based on a house move and storage together. We’re always looking to do more and be more.
That’s another reason to go Gago.