label Travel
For an overseas assignment of several months, compare the full cost of keeping your rented flat with storage plus two moves, taking your lease notice period into account. If storage wins, book a month-to-month room near where you will live on return so an extension or early return doesn't matter. Set up payments that run while you're away, name a local contact, number and photograph every box, and leave valuables and original documents with family.
- Should you keep your rented flat or move your things into storage?
- What if the assignment gets extended?
- What should you store, carry or hand over?
- What does a sensible timeline look like before you fly?
- Where should the storage room be?
- How do you plan the move back?
- Onsite assignment storage checklist
- FAQs
- Sources and notes
The onsite assignment is confirmed. Six months in another country, maybe nine, maybe "extendable". The company handles the visa and flights, but your flat in Gurugram or Noida is your problem. Do you keep paying rent on an empty flat, or give it up and find somewhere to put everything?
This guide is for corporate employees going abroad for a fixed or roughly known period. It helps you decide between keeping the flat and storing your things, then shows how to set storage up so coming back is easy. For a longer move abroad with family, read our guide to long-term storage when relocating abroad from Noida.
Should you keep your rented flat or move your things into storage?
There's no single right answer. It comes down to your rent, your lease and how sure the return date is. Put your own numbers into a comparison like this:
| Question | Keeping the flat makes sense if... | Storage makes sense if... |
|---|---|---|
| How long are you away? | It's a few weeks, or a short trip that may repeat | It's several months or longer |
| What does each option cost? | Rent plus maintenance is close to the cost of storage and two moves | Rent is much higher than a storage room for the same period |
| What does your lease say? | You're locked in and leaving early costs you more | Your notice period lets you leave cleanly |
| Who looks after an empty flat? | Someone can check it regularly | Nobody can check on it while you're away |
| Will you come back to the same area? | You want exactly this flat again | You'd rather choose a new flat on return, maybe near a new office |
Work out both totals for the full assignment, including the move out and the move back. Our storage calculator helps you size the room, and the team can give you a quote for that size. Then compare like for like.
What if the assignment gets extended?
Onsite assignments are often extended, and sometimes cut short. Plan for both.
- Pick a monthly plan. A month-to-month plan follows your assignment, whichever way it changes. You don't commit to a fixed number of months up front.
- Set up payment that runs while you're away. A lapsed payment is a headache to sort out from another time zone. Use automatic payment, or a reminder that lands well before each due date.
- Name a local contact. A family member or friend in Delhi NCR who can deal with anything on the ground. Ask us before you leave how authorised access works.
What should you store, carry or hand over?
| Store | Carry with you | Leave with family or close out |
|---|---|---|
| Furniture, beds and mattresses | Work laptop and company equipment, as your employer allows | Valuables and jewellery |
| Appliances, prepared properly | Clothes for the destination's climate | Original property and financial documents |
| Kitchen sets, crockery and books | Medicines and prescriptions | Plants |
| Seasonal clothes and bedding | Copies of key documents | Utility, broadband and gas connections |
Our rooms take household goods and appliances. Flammables and gas cylinders aren't allowed, so return or hand over the gas cylinder before you pack. Our storage rules list the rest. For the fridge and washing machine, follow our guide to storing a fridge, TV and washing machine.
What does a sensible timeline look like before you fly?
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| As soon as dates are confirmed | Check your lease notice period and give notice if you're leaving the flat |
| Three to four weeks before | Size and book the storage room; check passport validity on Passport Seva if it's close to expiry |
| Two weeks before | Sort into store, carry and hand over; declutter what you don't want back |
| One week before | Pack and label; prepare appliances; photograph everything |
| Final days | Move goods into storage, hand over the flat, settle utility bills |
We can help arrange transport from your flat through our partners, so you're not juggling movers in your last week.
Where should the storage room be?
Near where you expect to live when you come back. If you might switch offices, choose a location that suits either option. We have rooms in Gurugram, Noida and Delhi.
Just need to leave a few suitcases or boxes while you travel? Box storage may be all you need, and you won't need a full room.
How do you plan the move back?
- Find your new flat first, then book the move out of storage around the move-in date.
- Use your inventory and photos to check every numbered box as it comes out.
- Plug appliances back in only after they've stood upright for the time the manufacturer recommends.
- Give notice on the storage room once it's empty, as your plan requires.
Onsite assignment storage checklist
- Assignment dates and possible extension noted
- Lease notice period checked
- Keep-the-flat vs storage cost compared for the full assignment
- Storage room sized with the calculator
- Monthly plan booked near where you'll live on return
- Automatic payment or reminders set up
- Local contact named and access process checked
- Appliances prepared; no gas cylinders or flammables
- Every box numbered, listed and photographed
- Valuables and original documents left with family
- Utilities closed or transferred
Disclaimer: this is general information. Lease terms, employer relocation policies and travel documents vary, so check your own lease, your company's assignment policy and official sources before you decide.
Our rooms are private and lockable, with 24/7 CCTV and regular pest control, on flexible monthly plans in Gurugram, Noida and Delhi.
Leaving for higher studies instead? See storage when studying abroad.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on your rent, lease and how long you're away. Compare rent and maintenance for the whole period against storage plus moving out and back.
A month-to-month plan simply continues. If you return early, you can end it on the notice your plan requires.
Yes, prepared household appliances are allowed. Gas cylinders and flammables are not.
Set up automatic payment or reminders before you leave, so the room never falls behind.
Ask us before you leave how authorised access works, and name a trusted contact in Delhi NCR.
Not necessarily. Box storage may suit a few suitcases or cartons.
Sources and notes
Checked 1 Nov 2026.
- Facilities, CCTV, pest control and monthly plans: Self Storage India Gurugram, Noida and Delhi pages. Box storage: box storage page. What can be stored: storage rules.
- Passport services and renewal: Passport Seva.
