People asking to store stuff in your garage

[Mumoflil1]

Hi all,

Thoughts please. I have a garage which I use a fair amount. My house is really small with not much storage so the stuff in the garage is functional stuff other people might usually have in the house e.g. winter bedding, duvets, coats, seasonal clothes, tools, etc as well as the usual kids bikes and gardening bits. I'm not a hoarder so there isn't anything in there that I have no use for. My garage is kept quite orderly so there is space because I need to access my bits day to day.
However, I really get tired of people asking to use my garage to store their s0tuff. I hate clutter and the idea of holding other people's stuff fills me with dread. I don't mind if it's very short term but not indefinitely. I've even had a relative whose house is far larger than mine ask to store stuff (I politely declined, they are hoarders).
Thing is, it wouldn't occur to me to ask someone to store stuff inside their home for me, why do people think garages are fair game? Or, AIBU?

Storage units are rentable.

With the best will in the world, even if you lent a small area, it's likely items would arrive and possibly leave years later. We temporarily popped a dishwasher at a relatives, years ago. Still haven't space in our kitchen for one. The relative's dishwasher broke. I said no fear, have our one. They declined. It is still there. And truth be told we'll probably never use it now. So it has just taken up space for getting on 7 years. This horrifies me, and is a good lesson for not letting someone use your garage.

Refuse on the basis that it’s not covered by your insurance.

People can store their possessions in their own homes.

Just say no OP.

A good friend of mine ended up storing a friend's possessions in the loft "for a few weeks" which went on for much longer, and they were actually put out when she and her DH had to warn them that they were moving house and if the stuff was not removed, they would have to retrieve it from the new owners, or risk never seeing it again when it was disposed of.
You might consider finding out what the local storage facility charges, and mention this to anybody wanting to take advantage.

They can ask. You can say no

Just say no. If you need a reason, say it’s full.

Don't make up excuses just say no to them. Making excuses just leaves it all open ended.