Running Costs
Storage Costs for a UK motorhome.
Overview: Why Storage Is a Running Cost, Not an Afterthought
If your motorhome won’t fit on your own driveway, storage becomes a genuine annual cost — and, importantly, it also affects what you pay for insurance. It’s worth treating as part of your running-cost budget from day one rather than deciding on it after you’ve bought.
Driveway or Home Storage
The cheapest option by far, if it’s available to you: no ongoing fee, and quick access whenever you want to head off. Check two things before assuming you can do this — whether your driveway is actually long and wide enough for the vehicle’s full length, and whether any local restrictions, covenants or planning rules in your area limit parking large vehicles on residential land.
Secure Compound Storage
An open, secure compound (fenced, often with CCTV, sometimes CaSSOA-accredited) is the most common paid option for owners without driveway space. Across most of the UK, expect to pay somewhere in the region of £1–£1.50 a day — roughly £365–£550 a year — with prices running higher in London and the South East than elsewhere. Pricing also varies by vehicle length, so a larger motorhome will usually sit at the top of that range.
To put real numbers on it: Stondon Storage in Essex charges £425 a year for small campers, rising to £650 a year for large motorhomes, tiered by vehicle size. A more fully-featured compound with CCTV, alarms and night patrols — such as Guardian Secure Storage near Colchester — charges a flat £780 a year regardless of van size, reflecting the extra security on offer.
Club and campsite storage is worth comparing too: the Caravan and Motorhome Club offers storage at some of its 39 UK sites from around £1.18 a day, with short bookings possible from as little as £40 for a week if you only need cover for a specific period.
Indoor or Undercover Storage
Indoor storage costs more than an open compound, but it protects paintwork, roof seals and habitation areas from UV and weather damage over winter, which can reduce the risk of exactly the kind of damp and seal problems that are expensive to fix later. As a real-world example, J26 M5 Caravan Storage charges £852 a year for a standard indoor bay — a useful benchmark for what fully covered, undercover storage tends to cost compared with an open compound.
How Storage Affects Your Insurance
Insurers price risk partly on where your vehicle sits overnight. A CaSSOA-accredited compound, a Thatcham-approved alarm, or a tracking device can all bring your premium down — sometimes meaningfully. CaSSOA (the Caravan Storage Site Owners’ Association) accredits over 500 secure sites across the UK, badged Bronze, Silver or Gold by security level — it’s the accreditation most insurers look for specifically, so it’s worth checking a site holds it before you sign up. We cover this in detail in how much does motorhome insurance cost and in our full motorhome insurance guide, so it’s worth reading both before you commit to a storage option.
Permissions for Driveway Storage
Before assuming home storage is free and simple, check for anything that could complicate it — a shared driveway, a restrictive covenant, or a local authority rule about parking large vehicles on residential streets or verges if it overhangs. It’s a quick check that avoids an expensive surprise later.
Practical Ways to Cut Storage Costs
If a paid storage option is unavoidable, a few things help: booking annually rather than monthly where a discount is offered, choosing a compound close enough that you’ll actually use the vehicle often (an underused motorhome is a wasted cost in itself), and factoring the insurance saving from secure storage into the comparison rather than looking at the storage fee in isolation.
For the full picture of how storage fits into your overall costs, see our real motorhome running cost breakdown.
Written by Nicky Michelmore