It mostly comes down to what you’re storing. A lock-up garage near home can suit hard-wearing things like garden tools, bikes or DIY kit, while furniture, boxed belongings and anything you’d hate to find damp or damaged usually do better in self storage, where the site is watched, your unit is alarmed and your cover is sorted from the first day. If the space is a stranger’s garage or spare room rather than a lock-up, this guide to renting private space for storage lists what to agree first.
Here are the five things worth comparing, whichever you choose.
Security
With a lock-up, ask who else can reach it, whether anyone watches the site and what happens if the door is forced. At Wigwam, a professional CCTV monitoring company watches our sites around the clock, there’s a secure perimeter and access control on the external doors, and every unit has its own alarm and lock. If your alarm goes off while you’re not there, our security team investigates.
Keeping things in good condition
Oxford City Council, which lets garages, warns that household items left in one for a long time will deteriorate, and suggests checking on them regularly. Most of our units are purpose-built rooms inside our buildings, built to keep your belongings clean and dry. They’re standard self storage rather than climate-controlled, so pack everything dry and lift it off the floor, as our guide to keeping your things dry explains.
What you’re allowed to keep there
Some council garages are let for parking a car, and you need written permission before storing household belongings. Check your agreement first. With us, furniture, boxes, bikes, white goods and garden equipment are all welcome. For everyone’s safety we keep out anything that could start a fire, such as petrol and gas bottles, and our list of things we can’t store has the details.
Insurance
If the lock-up isn’t at your home, ask your insurer whether your contents cover reaches it, because a garage on your own property and one down the road can be treated differently. With us, everything stored is insured from the start, through our contents protection or your own policy, and we’ll help you work out how much cover you need.
Flexibility and access
Check the notice period on any garage you rent. Our minimum stay is two weeks, you give 14 days’ notice when you’re ready to leave, and you’re billed every four weeks. You can get in from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week, with free trolleys and a toilet on site. If you like the idea of parking right by the door, our drive-up units at Chipping Norton, Shipston-on-Stour and Warminster are the closest thing to a garage.
When you compare prices, compare the whole picture: the size, the notice, and whether cover is included or extra. To see what a unit near you costs, get a price online or call us on 0800 2545585.
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