Where are all the Lock ups going?

[UltraWomble]

There seems to be the square root of fuck all round Preston/Leyland now. I had one by the railway station - it got took off me and turned into a car park for the commuters.

 

I had one in Bamber Bridge - again, tenancy ended and now a block of flats exists there.

 

I have one in Avenham where Mandy lives (£43/month), my driveway currently contains three other cars and Im looking for another lock up but the best I can find is some private rental stuff in Preston at £60+ per month. The local authority and housing assn dont have any garages anymore.

 

There were some for sale locally (£7000 each) but despite me putting an offer in I never heard anything on one. Is this being repeated all over the country or is there a glut of cheap lock up garages hiding somewhere?

[daveb47]

Had 12 next door to me,they are now  2 housing association houses with eastern European tenants.

another 2 lots further down the road the same.

Noise and crime has risen dramatically.

They are now demolishing a block of 12 garages and a kids playing field in next road to build flats & houses.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

I suspect the land has more financial value if they are demolished and houses are built in their place.

[stripped fred]

I have a council one at £38 a month but the neighbouring council sold all their council garage plots to housing associations to build on.

[jonny69]

There's a fair few around here, but I never see anyone ever use them. I think people just fill them up with their junk and leave it in there until they move or die.

[garbaldy]

Same up here as I've had two sheds taken back and are now fancy barn conversions,

 

its the greed monster again £40 per month for a shed or £600 for a house.

[flat4alfa]

Plenty down here, although the councils have been selling them off in bulk over time and they get hiked to jobbing builder commercial rates.

 

Council want £13 a week for non-council tenants, £7 if tenant.

 

There's a fair few around here, but I never see anyone ever use them. I think people just fill them up with their junk and leave it in there until they move or die.

 

This ^

 

I got a better deal knocking on doors of the surrounding houses on the estate and offering £10 a week.  At one time I obtained three garages simply by knocking on doors and putting a wanted ad in the local shop window. 

 

Currently renting a single in block for £30 a month, private end of town, gained only by asking around

[nigel bickle]

I visited an interesting perspective on this a few years back.

 

Landowner , close to the bottom of Reigate Hill in Surrey built around 2 dozen lock ups, in opposing rows on his 1/4 acre of. land, then built a large luxurious flat on top of one of the blocks.

 

That way his land raises him an income, he can keep a weathered eye on his assets, and has a near free sizeable property.

 

Only downside I could see was the possibility in fire in a unit beneath, but it's not happened yet to my knowledge, and he built it when I was a mere lad.

[sierraman]

I share your frustration, I rang the council who wouldn't tell me the locations of their sites, I just had to put my name down for a site then they would tell me if they had any free. Which seemed odd as I could waste time doing that only to find waiting list is 10 years long. Anyway there's some that have clearly been empty for years but someone is still paying the rent. Years ago I just used to find an empty one and put my own padlock on.

 

When the council sell them off as a garage as opposed for redevelopment, how much they go for?

[chaseracer]

I lost my lockup at the end of April; 10 days' notice, five of which I was in Sofia*.  Fortunately, the monster-in-law has (had...) an empty double garage and I'm in her good books at the mo 

 

 

* The Bulgarian capital, sadly - not an obliging young Balkan lady...

[TRW]

I have a council one at £38 a month but the neighbouring council sold all their council garage plots to housing associations to build on.

 

Jesus Christ that's expensive! My Council leased spares unit is £20 a month.

[UltraWomble]

New progress used to charge me £56 for the one by the train station that I kept the BX in.

 

South Ribble Borough Cunts charged me £40 for the one in Brig before it became flats.

[Coprolalia]

Where are you people finding these lockups?!?!

I'm paying £62 a month for the private lock-up round the corner from my place in Plymouth for the Scirocco. I thought that was a good price for Devon.

[UltraWomble]

Where are you people finding these lockups?!?!

Well, we are not anymore, thats the point. Local authority ones are sadly very few and far between the majority having been sold off and the land turned into houses or flats.

[Angrydicky]

I pay £38 a month for my lockup, rented through a housing association. I don't think you can get much cheaper than that as a private tenant, unless the garage is located in some particularly grotty area, where you wouldn't really want to leave your car unattended.

[JohnK]

I pay £72 for two, which are both visible from my dad's kitchen window. Means I can leave stuff parked up for a period of time and not overly worry it's been broken into.

[sierraman]

Beat this then, a few years ago, had a lock up with Sheffield City Council for £1.28 a week. It was a plot with a corrugated tin garage sat on it complete with a pit. Never went in the pit though, it was a DIY job, done by the deceased owner.

[Pillock]

£6 a week, behind my local indie petrol station/garage. Asbestos roof, rotten timbers but cheap and walking distance from the house.

Only problem is they're built to house 1960s cars. The width between the gateposts on my unit is whatever a Saab 9-3 is with the wingmirrors out, plus two inches. Only slightly wider inside, so I can just about squeeze out of the car.

[oldford]

I was lucky in being allowed to keep my car at work for a few months.  Knowing that I needed to find a lock up I looked on Gumtree and found one at £50 per month, a couple of phone calls later and I had a new home for my car.  It's just about Cortina/Sierra sized, no power, but it's secure, dry, a lower rated area for insurance and just a couple of miles away.

 

It's at the back of some flats and the local residents are friendly and keep an eye out for any potential goings on.

[TRW]

Beat this then, a few years ago, had a lock up with Sheffield City Council for £1.28 a week. It was a plot with a corrugated tin garage sat on it complete with a pit. Never went in the pit though, it was a DIY job, done by the deceased owner.

 

 

I've three garages (owned by myself) on Council leased land, 2X @ £3 and the double @ £6 per week. I would love a pit in my double garage, so credit to the deceased previous owner of yours for getting away with a pit in Sheffield Council district. The amount of paperwork to get a pit, or even fitted electricity supply approved in Swansea on leased land could match a James Herbert novel.

[worldofceri]

Any idea the ballpark cost of building a brick garage with a proper roof to 21st century dimensions?

 

There's loads of little vacant plots round my way that occasionally come up for sale.  I reckon a network of small lock-up sites would be a decent long-term investment for less capital than residential property.  Less red tape and hassle possibly too.

 

Lockups in Coventry aren't impossible to come by.  Usually about £5-6K to buy, £40 a month to rent.  Last one I had was £9.75 a week I think.

[sierraman]

I've three garages (owned by myself) on Council leased land, 2X @ £3 and the double @ £6 per week. I would love a pit in my double garage, so credit to the deceased previous owner of yours for getting away with a pit in Sheffield Council district. The amount of paperwork to get a pit, or even fitted electricity supply approved in Swansea on leased land could match a James Herbert novel.

I don't think he applied for any of this. From what I remember he had just dug the hole, bricked up the sides and back filled round the side. It had 3 inch if water in it. Partly the reason I sacked it off. The site is still there, sans garage, the 5ft deep pit covered up with 2 1/4 inch plate. I was worried about anyone falling in it. Pissed or otherwise.

[anonymous user]

I'm still looking, annoyingly the ones I can see from where I live are an odd set-up, the garage bases are rented/leased from the Council and you build your own garage on top. Not all of them appear in use, some are so decrepit that you can see through the rotten corrugated iron and there are a few vacant bases. Unfortunately so far I have been unable to get any answers with regards to taking one on. I have a suspicion that the Council is waiting for all the tenants/leaseholders to die so that they can stick houses on the site.

[dave j]

I pay £60 a month for one just across the road from me. It comes with a parking space outside too which comes in handy! I was looking for one for a while and was just about to do a leaflet drop around me and this one came up on Gumtree. I had to act fast as he had loads of enquirys. I would rather own a garage though as I don't like paying rent

[Ghosty]

I'm still looking, annoyingly the ones I can see from where I live are an odd set-up, the garage bases are rented/leased from the Council and you build your own garage on top. Not all of them appear in use, some are so decrepit that you can see through the rotten corrugated iron and there are a few vacant bases. Unfortunately so far I have been unable to get any answers with regards to taking one on. I have a suspicion that the Council is waiting for all the tenants/leaseholders to die so that they can stick houses on the site.

 

Same here - there's an abandoned row of them on behind my house - all overgrown, long-forgotten bases that the council then offered to the house in front of them. The one behind my house had the last rotten corrugated iron garage behind it up until a few years ago when some twat set fire to it, for a while it was all trees and burnt metal/glass,  now it's overgrown.

Garage had a mystery light green bootlid in it...

[stripped fred]

Does anyone use the space in front of their lockup to keep another car on? I have been trying with this idea albeit on a short-term basis when I buy a car and then advertise another. It's not in a particularly bad area but I feel it is more likely for the car to be vandalised although I night be worrying unneccesarily.

[Lord Sterling]

Many lock-up lands are being turned into yuppie flats now sadly. It's a quick-buck maker for clowncils. I've got some pics somewhere of my Mk1 Sterling by some lock ups which had notices on the door. The land is now new-build houses for self-satisfied city-dwellers.

 

I was sub-let a couple of lock ups in Sutton Coldfield some years ago but they quickly turned shit and leaky despite my best efforts to maintain them:

 

 

Thankfully that link ended and I managed to sort myself out a barn in a nice part of country, it's a bit £much for my liking but I'm happy to have it, I can stick car and non-car shite in there.

 

Before I took the barn on I was I desperate need of renting a lock up to store my 820E, I managed to bag myself a great garage in Telford for £28 per month from a sort of houskng association. It's wide in all and I think they have more I stock:

 

 

I don't really need it because I can fit the 820E in Worcester but because it's wide and located in my home town I refuse to give it up.

 

It is harder to find car lock ups these days, but look hard and you will find.

[CHRIS1980]

I gave mine up 5 years ago as it was costing me £40 per month which at the time was a lot for me. Not to mention my Metro decided to leak oil out the door and got me in trouble. Land is worth a bit now with the price of houses. Our local council knocked down some local to my parents and 6 weeks later they moved the elderly residents in. I could not believe how quick they built them. Not many people use garages to store cars now. It's all full of junk. I live on a fairly new private estate and most people have 2 cars. The garage is full of crap so 1 car sits on the drive,the second is parked on the road so you have to do a slalom to get home. In contrast my parents house was built in the 50s and has a huge garden and loads of space to park on the road,ironic when in the 50s not many had cars.

[burraston2006]

I used to rent one in Seaton; East Devon and it cost £40.00 per month. Moved to Yobvil Somerset and got one for the same money. Easy peasey! On both occasions just rolled up to the council offices ( Yarlington in Yobvil) asked what have you got ? and got one there and then. I presume I fell lucky on both occasions as people I speak to have been waiting for ages. I suppose the answer is not to be too choosy/specific on location!

[Uncle Jimmy]

Had 12 next door to me,they are now  2 housing association houses with eastern European tenants.

another 2 lots further down the road the same.

Noise and crime has risen dramatically.

They are now demolishing a block of 12 garages and a kids playing field in next road to build flats & houses.

It's official folks; locking people up doesn't alleviate crime, lockups do. We took a selection of crime ridden British craptowns and added a liberal sprinkling of council lockups and crime dropped by as much as 4%* in some boroughs.