Universities are breaking up for Christmas very soon and students from all over the country will be going home for a few weeks’ well-earned rest and relaxation. Meanwhile, parents all over the country are gearing up for doing extra laundry and stocking up on vast quantities of food shopping!

Students and parents alike are wondering what on earth to do with all the stuff the students will be bringing home with them - it’s amazing how many belongings students acquire to furnish their accommodation and make it feel more like home!

Some university accommodation is available (and charged for) 52 weeks a year, whilst some has to be vacated during Christmas, Easter and summer breaks. Here are some suggestions and things to think about for parents and students in either situation this Christmas.
 

If you don’t have to vacate your student accommodation…

If you don’t have to move out of your student accommodation during the holidays, the easiest option might be to keep your belongings in your digs and just take your essentials (clothes, electronics, toiletries) home with you.  If you’re paying for the space, you might as well use it for your belongings if you’re not there. 

Bear in mind, though, that burglars know that students go home in the holidays. Empty student accommodation is an attractive prospect to thieves who know that if several people live in a property there will be more belongings to steal. 

If you’re not confident in the security measures in place to protect your student accommodation, you could pack everything up and take it home with you. You might be surprised at just how much stuff you’ve accumulated since you’ve been away, though, and fitting everything that you’ve kept in your student house into your old bedroom at home might be a bit of a squeeze! If you’ve been in self-catered accommodation, much of your belongings (such as pans and crockery) will be duplicates of what your parents already have at home, so it doesn’t make sense to bring them home just to store them under your bed.

Instead, you could rent a small self storage unit (we have 10 sq ft lockers available that are perfect for student storage) for the holidays. You could find a Safestore close to your student accommodation, or one close to your parents’ home, whichever is more convenient for you.
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If you have to vacate your student accommodation … 

Some universities rent out their student accommodation during the holidays - universities are often used to host conferences, dinners and events outside term time, and so they rent out student rooms to delegates or guests. This works out cheaper for students, who only have to pay for perhaps 35 - 40 weeks’ accommodation rather than 52, but it does mean that they have no option except to move out completely during that time.

If your student accommodation is to be rented out while you’re home for Christmas, it’s important to keep your stuff safe, clean and dry. Doing so will be a condition of your rental agreement, and anything you leave in your accommodation will be accessible to others if it’s not disposed of by the university. 

There might be lockable storage cupboards in shared areas such as the kitchen, in which you could at least keep your cooking equipment and crockery, but on the whole you’ll need to pack up everything you own. 

If you want to take it home with you, you’ll need to drive, hire a car / van or ask your parents to collect you, rather than take public transport. Your parents might have been using your bedroom as handy storage space in your absence, so they might need to use a self storage unit of their own to store excess belongings while you’re at home. If you can’t fit everything into your old bedroom, you and your parents might need to come to an agreement over what can be stored at home/in the garage/in the shed or loft, and what needs to be popped in the self storage unit for a few weeks.

If you’ve bought your own mattress and/or bedding rather than use the ones that came with your furnished accommodation, or if you own so much stuff as a student that you can’t transport it all home, a self storage unit close to your digs might be a more sensible option. We have a handy guide to help you choose the correct size of storage unit for your student belongings, which will allow you to visualise the space available and compare it to how much stuff you need to store.
 

The benefits of self storage for students

Keeping your student stuff in a self storage unit over Christmas will mean it’s secure, clean and dry and ready for you to retrieve it when term starts again. It’s important to store your student belongings somewhere you can easily access them again at the start of next term. We have stores close to all the major university towns/cities and our stores are open 7 days a week - so you can take your stuff out whenever you’re ready to go back to your digs. 

We also offer 50% off for the first 8 weeks, and if you have a good relationship with your flatmates you could all agree to share a larger unit and split the cost for even greater savings.

Using self storage for your student gear means there’ll be no need to cram everything into your old bedroom, no need to spend the Christmas holidays climbing over or around your stuff, and no need to worry about having anything stolen or damaged in your absence. If you think self storage is the best option for your student belongings, get in touch to find out how much it will cost and where your most convenient store is located.