Moving Home in West Sussex: A Storage Timeline & Checklist
When your completion dates don’t line up, where do your belongings go? A practical timeline and checklist for storing between homes across West Sussex.
When your sale and purchase don’t complete on the same day, storage bridges the gap — we collect your belongings before you move out, store them safely through the in-between, and redeliver once you’re in. This is the timeline and checklist for a smooth West Sussex move.
Moving home rarely runs to a perfect schedule: chains slip, completion dates move, and sometimes you are out before you are in — roughly one in three property sales falls through before completion. Managed storage takes the pressure off, and a little planning makes the whole thing calmer. Here is when to book, what to do, and how storing between homes works.
Why do you need storage when moving home?
You need storage when moving home whenever your move-out and move-in days don’t line up — a gap in the chain, a renovation before you settle in, or downsizing into a smaller place. Storage holds your belongings safely so the dates don’t dictate the move.
The day you have to be out is rarely the day you can move in — storage is what stops that gap turning into a crisis.Why people store when they move
When should you book moving storage?
Book moving storage as soon as you have a likely completion date, ideally a few weeks ahead, so your collection slot is locked in. With managed storage we collect before you move out and redeliver once you are in — the steps below show how it fits around your move.
A moving and storage checklist for West Sussex
Use this checklist to keep a West Sussex move on track: declutter early, get your quotes in, pack room by room, and keep the essentials with you. The less you have to move twice, the cheaper and calmer the whole thing is.
- Declutter first — sell, donate or recycle what you won’t take with you.
- Get your storage quote in early, so your collection date and costs are confirmed before completion.
- Pack and label room by room — see how to pack furniture without wrecking it.
- Sort utilities, post redirection and address changes a couple of weeks out.
- Keep valuables, documents and a moving-day bag with you, not in the container.
What if your move is delayed?
If your move is delayed, your belongings simply stay in store a little longer — there is no penalty and nothing to rearrange. Managed storage runs on flexible weekly terms, so a slipped completion date or a chain hold-up just extends the storage by the days you need, and we redeliver whenever you finally get the keys.
How does storing between homes work?
Storing between homes works on flexible weekly terms: we collect and seal your belongings into your own container, keep it in our dry warehouse in Ashington, West Sussex, and redeliver to your new home on 24 hours’ notice — for as long as the gap lasts, whether that is a weekend or a few months.
How much space does a move actually need?
Most people over-estimate. A single container takes 250 cubic feet — 5ft wide, 7ft deep and 8.6ft tall — roughly a one-bedroom flat once it is packed properly. As a working guide, a one-bedroom home fills one container, a two-bedroom home two, a three-bedroom home three, and a larger three or four-bedroom home four. Bulky sofas, garden furniture and a full loft push that up; a properly decluttered house pulls it down, and the crew confirms the real count on the day. Our storage size guide goes through it room by room, and the container storage page shows what you are actually filling.
A worked example: a two-bedroom home with a two-week gap
Take a situation we see often in West Sussex. You complete on the sale on a Friday, your purchase is not due to complete for another two weeks, and you are staying with family in between. A two-bedroom home of furniture and boxes typically fills two containers — 500 cubic feet.
We collect on the Thursday, load and seal both containers at your door, and take them to the Ashington warehouse. Across those two weeks the storage cost is £42 a week for the two containers, covering storage and insurance, with collection and redelivery quoted upfront as a separate charge worked out from the volume and the distance involved. If completion then slips by a week — which happens — you simply pay for the extra week of storage and insurance at the same weekly rate, and nothing else about the booking changes. On the day you finally get the keys, we redeliver, having had 24 hours’ notice.
Two things are worth planning around. The rate steps in fixed rungs — £21, £42, £63 and £79 a week for one to four containers, covering storage and insurance, with collection and redelivery charged separately and quoted upfront — and decluttering before collection genuinely changes which rung you land on. A boot-load to the charity shop is occasionally the difference between two containers and three. Current rates are on our pricing page.
A week-by-week moving storage timeline
The checklist above is the what. This is the when. Shift it to fit your own dates, but the order rarely changes.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| 4–6 weeks out | Get a storage quote and provisionally book a collection date. Start decluttering now, while it can still save you money rather than just time. |
| 3 weeks out | Settle how many containers you need, order boxes and packing materials, and begin with the rooms you barely use — loft, garage, spare room, books. |
| 2 weeks out | Sort post redirection, utilities, council tax, schools and home insurance. Pack room by room and number the boxes as you go. |
| 1 week out | Confirm the collection slot and flag anything awkward — a narrow lane, permit parking, no driveway, a third-floor flat. Start running down the fridge and freezer. |
| Collection day | Everything except your moving-day bag is loaded and sealed into your containers at the door. Nothing more needs to happen until you have keys. |
| Completion day | Get into the new home, take meter readings, and work out where the furniture is actually going before it arrives. |
| Redelivery | Give us 24 hours’ notice and your containers come back to the new door. |
What goes in the container, and what comes with you
The most common moving-day mistake is not packing badly. It is packing something into storage that you need in your hand two days later. Split the two piles deliberately, before collection day rather than during it.
| Goes into the container | Stays with you |
|---|---|
| Furniture, beds and mattresses, wardrobes and sofas | Passports, deeds and anything the solicitor might ask for |
| Out-of-season clothing, books, loft and garage contents | A fortnight of clothes, medication, chargers, toiletries and the kettle |
| Kitchenware beyond the basics, spare bedding, decorations | Jewellery, cash, small valuables and anything irreplaceable |
| Tools, garden furniture and bicycles, once cleaned and dried | House and car keys, and your folder of meter readings |
| Nothing hazardous — see what you cannot put in storage | Pet supplies, children’s comforters and school kit |
Furniture is the part people get wrong most often, because damp does more damage in storage than knocks do. Our furniture storage service explains how pieces are wrapped for the journey, and our guide to storing a mattress properly covers the single item we most often see ruined by a rushed pack.
More questions about storing between homes
Can you get something out of storage mid-move?
Yes, but plan for it rather than assume it. Access is arranged on 24 hours’ notice rather than by turning up — there is no drive-up self-access — so if there is any chance you will want the winter coats or one particular box, say so on collection day and it can be packed where it is easy to reach.
What if the gap turns out to be months rather than weeks?
Nothing changes except how long you pay for. Weekly terms mean a two-week gap that becomes a four-month one simply carries on. If a renovation or a rental period is involved, it is worth reading about long-term storage and storing during a renovation, which cover the same containers over a longer stay.
What if the chain collapses entirely?
That is a different problem to a scheduling gap, and it has its own answer. Our guide to storage when a property chain breaks covers what to do when the purchase falls through after you have already had to move out of the old house.
Do we need to be there when you collect?
Someone needs to be at the property to let us in and confirm what is going, but nobody needs to lift anything. Tell us in advance about access — permit parking, a narrow lane, stairs, no driveway — because that shapes how the collection is planned and it feeds into the collection and redelivery charge alongside volume and distance.
Do you cover our town?
We collect and redeliver across West Sussex from our warehouse at Doryln House, London Road, Ashington, Pulborough, including moves in and out of Worthing, Horsham and the villages between them. The areas we cover page has the full list of towns.
Does the weekly rate include packing our belongings into boxes?
Loading and sealing the containers is part of the collection, but packing your belongings into boxes is an optional extra rather than something the weekly rate covers — that rate is £21 a week per container for storage and insurance, with collection and redelivery quoted separately upfront. If you would rather box everything up yourselves, our how it works page sets out which steps we handle and where yours begin.
Frequently Asked Questions — A West Sussex moving & storage checklist
The questions West Sussex customers ask us most.
Yes. Managed storage is ideal for the gap between completion dates — we collect before you move out, store everything safely, and redeliver to your new home when you are in, on flexible weekly terms.
Book as soon as a completion date looks likely, ideally a few weeks ahead, so your collection slot is confirmed. Managed storage can often still be arranged at shorter notice if a chain moves suddenly.
As long as you need — from a weekend to several months. Storage runs on flexible weekly and 4-week terms, so you only pay for the time the gap lasts.
We collect from your old home and redeliver to your new one across West Sussex — you don’t need to transport anything yourself. Collection and redelivery are quoted upfront.
Still have a question? Talk to the family team
Store Without Lifting a Finger — A West Sussex moving & storage checklist
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