Moving Into Storage in Bournemouth & Poole

Storage is rarely the thing people set out to buy. It turns up because completion dates do not line up, because a renovation runs long, or because a tenancy ends in June and the next one starts in September. This guide is about that situation: what the storage run itself costs, how to pick a unit you will not regret, and how to avoid paying for the van twice.

We are a removals business, not a storage company. We have no unit to rent you and no referral fee to earn — the moving part is the bit we do.

What a storage run actually costs

The expensive part of storage is usually not the unit. It is the two van journeys either side of it, and the fact that most people budget for one.

A storage move is priced exactly like any other job: £25 call-out, then £40 an hour for one person, £65 for two, £90 for a three-person Luton crew. Mileage is free for the first 10 miles and £1.20 a mile after that, counted on the round trip, and driving time is billable at the same hourly rate as the lifting.

A worked example. A one-bedroom flat in Winton into a unit in Poole is about 8 miles each way:

| | | |---|---| | Call-out | £25 | | Loading, driving, unloading — about 2½ hours, two people | £162 | | Mileage: 16 miles round trip, 6 billable at £1.20 | £7 | | Total, in | about £195 |

Then the same again coming out. Budget for both journeys from the start and storage stops producing nasty surprises. Add £8 per flight of stairs at either end, and remember that a unit at the back of a site with a long push from the loading bay costs you in time, not in the unit's price.

Where it gets cheapest is when the storage run is bookended by an actual move — loading out of the old place, dropping at the unit and going on to the new one is one job rather than three. If that is your situation, book it as a single man and van in Bournemouth job and say up front that there is a storage stop in the middle.

First, be honest about how long

Almost every other decision follows from one question: is this a few weeks between completions, or is it months?

Short gaps — a week or two — suit self-storage, because you want to get at your things and you are not paying for long.

Longer periods — a few months while you renovate, travel or work away — suit container storage, because the per-cubic-foot cost is meaningfully lower and you do not need daily access.

Getting this wrong is what makes storage expensive. People book the convenient option for a fortnight and then stay in it for eight months.

Self-storage

The national operators both have sites locally — Big Yellow and Safestore each run facilities in the Bournemouth and Poole area, and there are independent operators as well.

You rent a lockable unit inside a building and come and go during opening hours, often seven days a week and sometimes 24 hours. It is the most convenient option and the most expensive per square foot.

Good for: short gaps between properties, anything you need to dip into regularly, business stock.

Container storage

Your belongings are loaded into a wooden container or a shipping container which is then stored in a warehouse or a yard. Access is usually by appointment with a day or two of notice rather than whenever you fancy.

You are paying for volume rather than floor space, so it works out cheaper for the same amount of stuff, particularly over months rather than weeks.

Good for: furniture you will not need until you move again, longer renovations, storing between countries.

Mobile and container-to-door

A container is delivered to your address, you fill it, and it is collected and stored. You are not hiring a van or driving anywhere.

Good if loading at your own pace matters more than cost, or if you have nowhere to park a van but somewhere to put a container.

What to check before you sign

Storage prices move around a lot and every operator runs promotions, so any figure printed on a page like this one goes stale quickly. Get a current quote from two or three places rather than trusting a number in a guide.

What matters more than the headline price:

• Is the first-month deal a real price or an introductory one? Half-price-for-eight-weeks offers are standard, and the rate afterwards is the one you will actually live with.
• Is insurance included, or compulsory and extra? Most operators require cover and sell it themselves. It is frequently not in the quoted rate.
• What is the minimum term and the notice period? Leaving early can cost you, and so can leaving without enough notice.
• What are the real access hours? "24-hour access" sometimes means the site, not your floor.
• Is there a lift, and how far is the unit from the loading bay? This decides how long loading takes, which decides what the van costs you.

Measure before you book

The single most expensive mistake is renting a unit twice the size you need, and it is remarkably easy to do because sizes are quoted in square feet and nobody thinks in square feet.

A single room's contents needs far less than people assume once it is stacked properly to the ceiling, and furniture stacks better on its end than flat. Most operators will size it for you if you send a list — do that rather than guessing, and ask to see the unit before you sign.

Students storing over the summer

If you are going home in June and back in September, storing locally almost always beats two long round trips with a car boot's worth at a time. Split a unit with a housemate and the cost per person drops to very little. The student moving guide covers the halls loading windows and what actually fits in a van.

Getting your things there and back

Tell us where the unit is and what is going in it and we will quote the whole thing — both journeys — before you book. No hourly meter running on a number you have not seen.

Call 07879 168 829, or see house removals if the storage run sits inside a full move. We cover Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and all of BH1–BH25.

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