With space at a premium on this highly populated island, using self storage has become an increasingly popular choice with the UK public. In a poll in 2021, 5.8% of respondents claimed they were ‘considering using self storage in the next 12 months, when the same question was asked in 2022, this figure went up to 6.19% of respondents.

The self storage industry has really taken off in recent years with sites popping up all over the country. As humans, we are inclined to seek the reasons behind why something is so. At Now Storage, we are an experienced self storage provider with sites across England and Wales, and here we take a look into the question, why do people use self storage? 

When moving home

Selling up and buying a new home is a big deal when you are a homeowner, and a study a few years ago found the average British homeowner only moves once every 23 years.

It is all too easy to accumulate lots of household possessions down the years, including ornaments, furniture, beds, tools, large household appliances (dishwashers, washing machines, driers, hoovers, fridges, freezers etc) and an endless amount of things. Moving all these items in one swoop can be a tricky job. So, many decide renting a self storage unit is a great storage solution idea when moving house.

For temporary storage while the sale and purchase go through

How do you transfer your possessions to your new place when buying and selling a house is such an uncertain process where anyone can pull out or break the chain at any time (particularly in England and Wales where no property offer is legally binding until contracts are signed)? 

Many people decide hiring a self storage space is the ideal option when they are in limbo between moving houses. Is this you? Find out where your local Now Storage site is. Our storage units and containers are secure and CCTV monitored 24/7 and controlled by access systems. We have storage facilities able to house the possessions of properties with five + bedrooms, so no job is too big for us at Now Storage!

So you can move in gradually, bit by bit

Settling into a new home can take you a bit of time, and you won’t know straight away where you want to put everything and what you want your home decor and the layout of the house to look like. A top tip for home movers can be to move your things in from your old place gradually. 

Hiring a self storage unit can play a vital role in helping you move in gradually. So, the way it bides you more time to help you settle in properly after moving home is another reason why people like to use self storage.

Many renters use self storage too

It is not only homeowners who like to use self storage services when moving home. Here at Now Storage, we find that many rental tenants find self storage helpful when moving between properties. After all, some landlords are strict about what you are allowed to store at their property. Click here to learn more about what you are and aren’t allowed to store at our fabulous self storage facilities. 

If you have a baby on the way 

A common reason for moving home and deciding to go and live somewhere with some extra space is if you have a new addition to the family coming soon. They may require temporary storage as they make the big move and try and juggle everything to settle in. 

It is an exciting time when you are expecting and moving to a new house and a new beginning, but you also must be realistic that you may well need a practical temporary storage solution so you have enough storage space when the baby arrives. You’ll find your little ones can accumulate a great deal of clobber that needs storing somewhere in the form prams, cots, and toy collections.

House clearance

The death of a relative or someone close, divorce, or getting ready to prepare to sell a home are common reasons why people decide to carry out house clearances. However, you may not necessarily want to throw away certain items you find in a thorough house clearance, such as family heirlooms or possessions which held real significance to the deceased. Instead, many people opt to use self storage and hold onto items uncovered that hold significance during a house clearance.

If you live in a major city with limited living space

Built-up urban areas (highly populated towns and cities) according to a study in 2019 accounted for 82.9% of England’s population – 56.3 million people. Annoyingly, inhabitants of major cities such as Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, and London often lack living space and have limited storage provisions at home, since space is so hard to come by. As a result, those living in major cities with limited living space and smaller size bedrooms are more inclined to hire a self storage unit. 

To store garden furniture and equipment

Do you love hosting family and friends at gatherings in your outdoor space at home? Outdoor furniture additions such as sofas, chairs, parasols, and tables can do wonders for your garden space. However, garden furniture items aren’t necessarily very space-saving, and some are pretty large in size and weight. 

Are you passionate about keeping on top of your home gardening? Maybe you grow some impressive veg in your back garden that needs looking after. Garden tools like hedge trimmers, lawnmowers, wheelbarrows, and so on can take up a fair amount of space and storing them all in a shed can be tricky. 

Many keen gardeners decide to store their home storage equipment safely in a self storage facility. So, why not store your garden equipment in our safe and secure premises at Now Storage? 

What’s more, going with us will mean you get access to your garden equipment seven days a week. Your garden tools will be in safe hands with Now Storage!

Due to moving abroad 

There is a multitude of reasons why people may move abroad, albeit for a set period for work or study, to permanently relocate overseas, or to enjoy a relaxing retirement in the sun. Sometimes, it is nice to go on an adventure and to have the opportunity to live in another country and get to know its people and culture. 

But you may not want to get rid of your things altogether when moving abroad, so what will you do about storing all your belongings? Well, many people moving abroad decide to rent self storage space so they can access their prised possessions whenever they return to this country, or if they wish to gradually move into their new place abroad and ship items over bit by bit.

Year after year at Now Storage we have people coming through our doors and selecting our self storage services due to moving abroad.

Home renovations

Major home structural renovations such as extensions can turn your home upside down for a good while, not to mention the noisy builders! The last thing you want when trying to get your major home renovation just right and ensure it only needs doing once is for boxes of your clutter laid all over the place to get in the way of builders carrying out their work. So, a significant number of people choose to hire a self storage unit as a feasible storage solution while their home renovations are being completed. 

To store collectable items and archives

Magazines, stamps, quirky ornaments, newspapers, model cars, and train sets, there are all types of collectable items that people struggle to find storage for at home. At Now Storage, many avid collectors put their faith in us to provide safe self storage for their beloved collectables. 

Are you a bit of a historian or have you collected lots of archive documents for whatever reason? Maybe you are tracing your family tree? Well, we are here to help and perfectly suited at Now Storage to help you with storing such archives. 

Please note, we do not allow you to store jewellery, watches, legal deed papers, money, perishable items (food that needs to be refrigerated or frozen), illegal goods and explosive items with us. 

Student storage

Student home living space, whether on-campus university accommodation or renting a place from a private landlord, is often limited and lacks proper storage facilities. If you’re a student who does a particular course which requires you to lug a lot of material and equipment around (such as medicine, art, or photography), a self storage unit could be ideal for you! 

There are various ways you can maximise your bedroom space at home as storage, such as using multifunctional furniture, under-bed storage, plastic storage containers, and putting clothes in vacuum-sealed bags. But hiring a self storage unit can be a logical answer to student storage conundrums.

International students

Being an international student is hard, and moving your possessions with you to and fro every time you travel back and forth to visit your home country can be almost impossible, especially if you have already been living and studying at a university in the UK for several years. 

Hiring a self storage unit can thereby be a wise idea to help solve the storage headaches international students come across. Since Now Storage has 15 self storage facility locations across England and Wales located near large buzzing universities, we are an attractive option for home and international students.  

To help declutter a home office space

More and more of us now work from home given that we all got a bit more used to it during the pandemic. Hybrid and remote working models seem like they are here to stay. However, there’s no doubt anyone working from home will want to keep their home space nice and neat and well-organised. 

Hiring a self storage unit to store all your household clutter can help you to create a clean and clear home office space that is ideal for you to spend large amounts of time working in. After all, you need to focus when working from home, and tidy room, tidy mind as the saying goes!

Business storage 

Whether it be for office equipment storage, part of an office relocation project, to keep stock somewhere safe, or storing work tools, there are all sorts of reasons why businesses need to use self storage. Fortunately, we at Now Storage offer business storage at all our self storage sites. 

eCommerce businesses often use self storage

eCommerce sales were already on the rise before the pandemic, but since 2020 eCommerce has gone on to the next level and customer purchases have skyrocketed. 

With the increase in people working from home, by 2025 it is forecast that 49.7% of non-food retail sales will be made online. Many owners of eCommerce stores find that hiring a self storage unit is an ideal solution to their business storage needs and it provides them with a safe and secure way to store their stock. 

Car and caravan storage

Have you got a car or caravan that you want to safely store and have easy access to? Maybe you want to protect your vehicle from the elements and reduce any potential risks of vandalism. Well, you’ll be pleased to hear that at Now Storage we also now provide customers with excellent car and caravan storage. 

We cover a broad range of storage requirements here at Now Storage. This is the reason why thousands of people after storage solutions choose to go with our services and put their trust in us to store their possessions in our indoor units and storage containers. 

Interested in hiring a self storage unit to resolve your storage dilemmas? Get in touch with Now Stoage by calling us on 0800 0787 110 or sending us a message with your details.