If your move-out date and your move-in date do not line up, storage between house moves UK is the gap-filler that keeps everything safe until the new place is ready. Most people who use it are not planning a long stay in storage. They have a chain delay, a renovation to finish, or a few weeks to bridge before they can unpack properly. The good news is the process is simple, the costs are predictable, and your belongings are kept secure the whole time. This post walks through when it makes sense, what actually happens to your things, and the questions worth asking before you commit.
Why People Need Storage Between Homes
Three situations cover almost every booking we take for storage between moves.
Property chain delays - A buyer pulls out, completion slips, or your seller's onward purchase falls through and the whole chain has to wait. You are contractually out of your old home but the new one is not ready. A few days or a few weeks in storage buys everyone breathing room.
Renovation or building work at the new property - You have keys but the kitchen is being ripped out, the floors are coming up, or the rewire is half-done. Furniture going in now would be in the way of the trades and at risk of damage. Storing the contents while the work finishes keeps everything out of harm.
Moving abroad with a gap before arrival - You are heading overseas but cannot ship until your accommodation at the other end is confirmed, or you have a temporary stay in the UK before flying out. Storage holds the household contents until the international leg is ready to go. If you are planning a European move, our European Removals service can pick up from storage directly once you have a confirmed arrival date.
If your situation is one of those three, storage during your house move is the standard answer. The rest of this post is about how to do it well.
What Happens to Your Belongings in Storage
The handover is the part most people have not seen before, so here is the order of events on the day.
How Your Items Are Loaded Into Storage
The crew arrives at your old home, packs and wraps the furniture as they would for a normal house removal, and loads the lorry. Each item is documented as it goes on. From there the lorry runs to the storage facility rather than the new address. At the facility your contents are transferred into a dedicated storage container or bay and sealed. The whole process is one continuous chain of custody. The same crew who loaded your home are the crew who put it into storage, so nothing changes hands at a third-party site.
How Your Items Are Kept Secure
"Secure" is one of those words that gets thrown around without much behind it, so here is what it actually looks like at the Alltranz depot in Daventry. The site is gated and the perimeter is fenced. CCTV covers the yard and the storage area. The building is alarmed and the alarm runs 24/7. Containers are sealed once they are loaded and the seal is logged against your inventory. Every item is logged on the way in and checked on the way out, so nothing goes missing.
That last point is the one most people care about and it is the one that makes a difference if anything is ever queried. You should expect a numbered, itemised list, not a vague tally, from any removals firm storing your contents.
How Long Does Storage Between Moves Typically Last?
The honest answer is: as long as you need, but most bookings fall into one of three brackets.
Short-term, a few days to a few weeks - Chain delay, a completion that slipped from a Friday to the following Wednesday, a buyer asking for an extra week. The bulk of storage between moves bookings sit here.
Medium-term, one to three months - Renovation work, a new build that is running late, a self-build with a snagging list. You are paying month by month while the property gets ready.
Longer-term, three months and beyond - Overseas moves, a stay in temporary rented accommodation, a relocation that is happening in two stages. Costs work out per month and the storage stays sealed until you are ready to unpack at the destination.
Most removals firms, including Alltranz, will quote a weekly or monthly rate so you can plan around the gap rather than commit to a fixed term. If your dates change, the rate just continues until you give the move-in instruction.
What to Think About Before Putting Items Into Storage
A bit of prep on the day saves a lot of frustration later. Two things matter most: what you keep with you, and how you prepare what gets sealed.
What to Keep Accessible vs What Can Go Into Storage
Anything you will need in the next few weeks should not go into a sealed container. Pull together an access bag before the crew arrives.
Keep Out (Access Bag)
Daily clothes for the household
Important documents (passports, deeds, school records)
Medicines and prescriptions
Phone chargers and laptops
Small valuables (jewellery, cash)
Any items needed for short-term accommodation
Can Go Into Storage
Out-of-season clothing
Books, keepsakes, photo albums
Spare bedding and linens
Furniture, soft furnishings, rugs
Kitchenware not in daily use
Garden equipment and tools
If in doubt, keep it out. It is much easier to drop a bag in the car than to request access to a sealed container three weeks in.
How to Prepare Items for Longer-Term Storage
For anything sitting more than a few weeks, a small amount of prep keeps it in good condition.
Drain washing machines and dishwashers before the crew arrives. A bit of trapped water becomes a smell after a month sealed up.
Empty and defrost the freezer, then leave the door slightly ajar before loading day.
Wipe down the inside of any appliance going in and let it dry fully.
Disassemble bed frames where possible and keep all fixings in a labelled bag taped to the headboard.
Wrap upholstered furniture in breathable covers, not plastic, to avoid moisture trapping against the fabric.
The crew will handle the wrapping on the day, but the appliance prep and the bed-frame fixings are easier if you tackle them the night before.
Questions to Ask Your Removal Company About Storage
Before you book, run through this list with whoever is quoting. The answers tell you a lot about what you are buying.
Is the storage site alarmed and monitored, and is the alarm 24 hours?
How are my items documented: an itemised numbered list, or a general tally?
Can I access my belongings during storage if I need to, and how much notice is required?
Is my furniture wrapped or containerised, and what protection is used?
What is included in the storage price, and what is charged separately, such as insurance, access visits, and redelivery?
Is the storage handled by your own team at your own facility, or is it sub-contracted?
If the answers are vague, particularly on documentation, access, and whether the storage is in-house, it is worth getting a second quote.
How Alltranz Handles Storage Between Moves
Alltranz stores at our own secure site at Long March Industrial Estate in Daventry. The site is gated and fenced, the yard and storage area are covered by CCTV, and the building is alarmed. Every item that goes into storage is logged on a numbered inventory before the container is sealed, and that inventory is what we work from when you are ready to move into the new home.
What that means in practice: your contents do not leave Alltranz hands during the gap. The crew who load your old home are part of the same operation that runs the storage and the redelivery. Storage is part of the move, not a separate third-party arrangement. We handle storage solutions and house removals end to end, so there is one quote, one set of paperwork, and one crew accountable for your belongings from collection day to delivery day.
If you are working a chain delay, a renovation, or an overseas move and need somewhere reliable to put the household for a few weeks or a few months, that is the service.
Services
Secure containerised storage at our Daventry depot, short or medium term, with full itemised documentation.
UK-wide home moves managed from our Daventry depot, with optional storage built into the same job.
Ready to Plan Your Move?
If your move-out and move-in dates are not lining up, get in touch with the team in Daventry. We will run through the gap, the contents, and the dates, and come back with a single quote that covers the house removal and the storage in one. Call 01327 876007 or use the contact form on our website. Storage is something we run from our own site, so the answer is usually quick.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I access my things while they are in storage?
Yes, with notice. Containerised storage is sealed once it is loaded, so access is not walk-in like a self-storage unit. Give us a working day or two of notice and we can break the seal, retrieve the item, and re-seal the container with a fresh log entry. This works well for the box of paperwork you forgot you needed, and less well for daily access.
Q: Do I need separate insurance for items in storage?
Most removals firms offer goods-in-storage cover as an add-on. It is usually charged as a percentage of the declared value of your contents and runs alongside the in-transit cover from the move itself. Ask for the goods-in-storage cover specifically when you get your quote. It is sometimes priced separately from the move and easy to miss.
Q: What if I need storage for longer than expected?
It is fine. Storage is billed monthly so if your chain slips by another four weeks, the cost just rolls on at the same rate. Let the office know as soon as you have a revised date so we can plan the redelivery, but you do not need to commit to a fixed end date up front.
Q: How do I know my items are still all there when they come out?
Every item is logged on a numbered inventory before the container is sealed. When the container is opened on the redelivery day, the same inventory is checked off as items come out. If anything is missing or damaged, you have a documented record from day one. That is the point of the numbered process.
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