Losing my garage space

[PeteStupps]

Woe is me, I'm being evicted from my lock-up garages after 15 years. Me and several others at the same time...

Naturally I've accumulated enough stuff to fill 3 garages and a parking space over the years, so will be having a long-overdue clear out for the next few weeks. And obviously looking for somewhere new. Not expecting to get almost unlimited space for £150 a month in central London again though, so one or two of my four Triumphs will end up for sale soon.

Anyone else had to deal with this sort of disaster recently?

[Tim Bancroft]

Blimey Pete, this is bad news.

Had a similar problem 4 years ago when moving from a house with space for 5 cars (3 under cover) to a place with space but only a single garage. Luckily enough a chap with a farm down the road has a dry barn where locals store cars with interest, so two of them are now in there. 

Not easy finding dry secure space in London, good luck.

[RobPearce]

Oh no! That's bad.

I've lost garage spaces a couple of times

- first with two lockups in Abingdon. The cars in them were both unroadworthy, one of them extensively dismantled. I had a single garage and some space, in Banbury, and we hired a lorry to transport the pile of bits of Spitfire.

- much later, a space in a barn workshop. The Spitfire had to move again and I ran out of garage space. Luckily I had enough front garden that I was able to get a nice 3-bay with workshop area built.

But then I've always lived a little out of the way, certainly never in central anywhere, so my options have been less limited than yours. Good luck!

[PeteStupps]

Thanks for the sympathy gents. After the initial panic I realised this could have come at a much less convenient time so I'm grateful for that sliver of good fortune. I'm not in the middle of any major rebuilds, two cars are fully roadworthy and one isn't far off. Plus i've recovered from a knee operation last November so can move things around! And the one-month notice period has been extended to two, which will be a big help.

There are some vague options of clubbing in with other local owners a few miles south, or raising funds to buy a double garage in my current block. But it's going to be a chore and worry for a few weeks at the very least

[Wendy Dawes]

Hope you can sort something between you 

best of luck Pete 

[yorkshire_spam]

I rent a 20' shipping container at a local self storage for a reasonable monthly rate - might be easier to arrange than a garage?

 

[MarkB]

I had a similar experience in 2019. I had rented 3 lock-ups from the council for 30 years, packed full. Two cars, racking along the backs, full of triumph stuff, several straight six engines suspension chassis etc. etc. They let the garages go into disrepair over a couple of years. I  called the council to ask if they were going to build on the site, and was told not for the foreseeable future. Had an ominous feeling, and and there was some talk amongst some of the other garage renters. A month or so later there was a fellow taking picture of the garages, some with roofing peeled back. Ask who he was, and he said he was from health and safety. The next morning every garage had an eviction order pasted to the door, with 7 days to vacate. Not great. They did find me one garage which a car and some stuff moved to. Built another shed to house some of the parts. Bit of a nightmare really. 

If you have a bit of time, don't be to hasty and get rid of stuff you may regret later. 

I live in southeast London, with ULEZ expanding, introduction of permit parking everywhere, lack of garages to rent. I've got a van I will have to sell and a mk1 mx5 I need to find somewhere to store. Not a great place to live if you like playing with cars.

Hope you manage to find alternatives options, easy to say, but try not to get to stressed.

Edited March 4, 2023 by MarkB

[PeteStupps]

@yorkshire_spam Sam I did look up self-storage and the rates anywhere near me are insane!

@MarkB thanks and sorry to hear of your experience. Interesting to hear though. It is a bit of a stress for sure. There's a few things I should have got rid of ages ago so they'll be the first things to go. Hopefully be able to keep the essentials. It's definitely going to be a challenge cos several classic owners are being turfed out so we'll all be vying for space

[thescrapman]

Pete, it is possible to get very secure, dry, heated, and totally free car storage in London!

I will send you a photo when I get to work.

🙂

 

[PeteStupps]

9 hours ago, thescrapman said:

I will send you a photo when I get to work.

🙂

Thanks Colin, email received. Not sure I would get away with that option... but it's very attractive! I'm in the wrong part of the business though

[thescrapman]

1 hour ago, PeteStupps said:

Thanks Colin, email received. Not sure I would get away with that option... but it's very attractive! I'm in the wrong part of the business though

That is taking it to the extreme 🙂 but a few staff have been known to use company premises for short term storage, so don’t discount it. There was a GT6 stored near me for a year or so, right people were aware. Just needs a few phone calls, gets them out of the way whilst you move the spares etc.