Packhood Research · QMUL · Updated May 2026
Student storage at Queen Mary University of London — and side income for students who host
Published .
TL;DR for QMUL students
- As a renter: £155–£300 for the full 3-month summer (box-room volume). Vs €2,700–€3,900 to keep your London room over summer.
- As a host: £500–£2,000/year for a single space. The cheapest, lowest-effort student side income on the market.
- Same Packhood account does both — list a space, book a space, repeat.
Queen Mary University of London at a glance
~30,000 students. QMUL's Mile End campus sits in east London (E1). Halls are on-campus + Charterhouse Square; second-years move to Bow, Stratford, Bethnal Green, Whitechapel and Hackney.
Transport: Central Line (Mile End / Stepney Green), Hammersmith & City Line, dense east London bus + cycle.
Term timing: Three-term system. East London student housing has the longest summer empty windows in London (June–Sept).
Renter side — where QMUL students store stuff over summer
Bands below are typical Packhood rates for a student box-room volume (one bed's worth — 2–4 m³). A full-bedroom load (4–6 m³) typically lands at 1.7–2.0× these monthly rates.
Live rates by area: see London storage prices for the full city-level bands across asset types (garage, spare room, attic, basement, shed, driveway).
Host side — how QMUL students earn meaningful side income
Most students go looking for a part-time job to plug the gap between rent and grants. Hosting on Packhood replaces or supplements that — same money into your account, zero shifts, and the work is essentially "list once, collect monthly". Three scenarios that work for QMUL students specifically:
Income range across all scenarios: £500–£2,000/year for a single space. Hosts receive 95% of the listed amount; Packhood's 5% fee covers identity verification, the Host Guarantee (up to €300 per booking), and Stripe escrow. List a space in ~12 minutes from Become a host.
Why hosting beats a part-time job for most QMUL students
A typical 8-hour shift at minimum wage clears about €100 net after tax. The same €100 comes out of one month of hosting your box room — and unlike the shift, you don't lose 8 hours, you don't have to commute, and the income compounds across the academic year. Stack two listings (your box room + parents' garage at home) and you replace a 2-shift-a-week job with two emails a year.
The catch: it's slower to ramp than a job. Your first booking lands 2–6 weeks after listing. After that, the cadence is steady — most QMUL-area listings get 3–7 enquiries / month and a 30–50% booking rate. Reviews compound: hosts with 4+ reviews see ~2× the booking rate of new hosts.
FAQ — QMUL students
How much is student storage near QMUL?
Typical rates: £55–£110/mo across the east-London hubs QMUL students cluster in. 3-month summer totals: £155–£300.
Where do QMUL students rent storage?
Bow, Bethnal Green and Whitechapel are walking / cycling distance from Mile End. Stratford has the best price-to-tube ratio.
Can QMUL students earn from hosting?
Yes. QMUL's east-London footprint has some of the highest box-room density anywhere in the country — strong term-time host opportunity.
UK tax on hosting income?
UK storage hosting income falls under HMRC's £1,000 Trading Allowance — earn up to £1,000/year with no Self Assessment required. Above that, declare on the SA103 (self-employed pages) of your tax return.
Other universities
Doing this for a friend at another college? Per-uni guides: UCL, Imperial, KCL, LSE, Oxford, Cambridge, UoM, UoE, UofG, UoB, UoB-Bham, Cardiff. Or the national Student storage in the UK overview.
Two buttons: rent a space, or list yours.
Same QMUL student account does both.