An empty rental costs you money every day it sits without a tenant. If you're repainting, replacing carpets or waiting for a new tenancy to begin, moving furniture into storage can shave weeks off that gap. This guide is for London landlords and letting agents who need somewhere safe to keep furniture, white goods or fixtures between lets.
Why Void Periods Cost You More Than Rent
Void periods hit landlords hard. Every day a property sits empty is a day without rental income, yet you're still covering the mortgage, insurance and service charges. Research published by The Negotiator found London void periods now average 16.6 days between tenancies, the shortest in England, but they cost landlords more than anywhere else at around £1,252 a time. Clearing furniture into storage while you redecorate or find a new tenant means contractors can work faster, with nothing left blocking doorways or floor space. It also helps at viewings. An empty, freshly painted room photographs and shows far better than one still full of the outgoing tenant's furniture.
What to Put Into Storage Between Lets
Not everything needs to go into storage. Landlords typically move out sofas, beds, wardrobes and dining furniture from furnished lets, along with any white goods due for repair or replacement. Storage is also useful if you're switching a property from furnished to unfurnished, or simply refreshing tired furniture between tenants. It's a common reason people use storage in the first place. Roughly 40% of domestic self-storage customers in the UK say they use it because they're moving, according to the Self Storage Association UK. Just Removals London's secure storage is covered by goods-in-transit insurance and £5m public liability, so furniture is protected from the moment it leaves the property to the moment you collect it again.
How Much Storage Space Does a Rental Property Need
A one-bedroom flat rarely fills more than a small unit. Most one and two-bedroom rental properties need around 35 to 50 square feet of storage to hold a full set of furniture, several boxes and any white goods. Larger three and four-bedroom houses usually need closer to 75 to 100 square feet. Getting the size right matters. Pay for too little and you end up stacking boxes on the sofa, pay for too much and you're wasting money every month. Ask your storage provider to talk you through what fits where before you book, so you're not guessing on the day the van turns up.
Booking a Man and Van or a Full Crew for the Job
Small jobs don't always need a full removals team. If you're only clearing a studio flat or a single room, a man and van service can collect the furniture, load it and take it straight to storage in one trip. Larger portfolios, or a full house clearance between tenancies, usually call for a bigger crew and a Luton van, so everything moves in one go rather than several smaller runs. Either way, ask whether the crew wraps and protects furniture as standard. Scuffed wardrobes and torn sofas cost you at deposit return, or when you try to re-let the same pieces to the next tenant.
Packing Up a Tenant's Leftover Belongings
Tenants don't always take everything with them. If someone leaves furniture, boxes or personal items behind, you're expected to store these safely and give reasonable notice before disposing of anything, under UK rules on abandoned goods. A packing and unpacking team can box up what's left quickly and label it clearly, so it's easy to identify if the tenant comes back for it. This keeps you on the right side of your obligations and keeps the property clear for the next let. Wardrobe boxes and bubble wrap protect anything of value while it waits to be claimed or cleared.
Storage as Part of a Bigger Portfolio
Managing more than one property gets complicated fast. Landlords with several flats or houses across London often find it cheaper to hold one storage account for spare furniture and fixtures, rather than storing separately at each address. It also makes it far easier to furnish a new let quickly. Instead of buying furniture from scratch every time, you draw from stock already in storage. If you're simply moving furniture between two of your own properties rather than into storage, a flat removals team can handle the transfer directly, cutting out the extra stop altogether.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long can I keep furniture in storage between tenancies?
Most providers let you book by the week or month, with no fixed minimum term in many cases. If you expect a gap of a few weeks between tenants, book storage on a rolling basis rather than a long contract, then extend if the void period runs on longer than planned.
Is my furniture insured while it's in storage?
Yes, when you use a fully insured provider. Just Removals London includes goods-in-transit cover and £5m public liability as standard, so your furniture is protected from collection through to return with nothing extra to arrange.
What happens if a tenant leaves belongings behind?
You must store abandoned belongings safely and give the tenant reasonable written notice before disposing of anything of value. A short spell in storage protects you from a dispute later, while keeping the property free to show to new tenants straight away.
Can storage help me re-let a property faster?
Yes. An empty, freshly presented property photographs better and viewings run more smoothly without a previous tenant's furniture in the way. Moving everything into storage while you clean, repaint or repair means the property is ready to list the moment the work finishes, rather than waiting on furniture being cleared first.
Void periods are expensive enough without extra stress over where to put a property's furniture. Whether you need space for one flat or a whole portfolio, fully insured storage keeps everything safe until your next tenant moves in. Get in touch with Just Removals London for a free, no-obligation quote and we'll sort the rest.