Prepping in a small flat on a small budget

Official advice first

GOV.UK Be Ready asks every household to be able to manage for 3 days with water, food, light, a radio and medicines. It doesn't ask you to fill a spare room. It says to check what you already have, then build up gradually, adding an item or two when you do your normal shopping, and that many of its suggestions cost nothing.

Week 1: the free steps

None of these cost money (all from Be Ready unless marked):

• Write key numbers on paper, including 105 to report a power cut (03457 643643 in Northern Ireland). Your phone may be flat when you need them.
• Set up ICE or Medical ID on your phone and tell the person you've chosen.
• Swap numbers with neighbours, or start a building group chat. Ask if anyone may need extra help, such as people who live alone.
• Agree a meeting point with the people you live with, somewhere public and easy to find.
• Check your child's school or nursery has your right numbers.
• Order repeat prescriptions at least 5 working days before you run out.
• Make a household plan. Be Ready has a printable one, and so do we: make a plan (free).
• Join the Priority Services Register if you qualify (see below).

Then: buy in this order

Spread these over several normal shops. The order follows the Be Ready list:

1. Water: about 3 litres per person per day for drinking, for 3 days. Cooking and washing need more. See how much water to store in a small flat.
2. Food that needs no cooking, with a long shelf life, that you already eat. That way it gets used, not wasted. See the 7-day no-cook food box.
3. A torch and spare batteries. Be Ready says torches are safer than candles. Our emergency lighting post compares torches, head torches and lanterns.
4. A battery or wind-up FM radio, and write down the frequencies of the stations you use.
5. A charged power bank.
6. First aid kit and essential medicines.
7. Hygiene: hand sanitiser, wet wipes and bathroom products.
8. Blankets, sleeping bags and warm clothes. You probably have these already.
9. Some cash in coins and notes, as card machines and cash points may not work.

Space tricks for a small flat

These are our own suggestions, not official advice:

• Spread it out. Six 2-litre bottles fit at the back of a wardrobe or under a bed. No single cupboard has to hold everything.
• Use what you already store. Keep a few extra tins in your normal food cupboard and eat the oldest first. Our stock rotation guide explains how.
• Keep the torch and radio by the bed, where you'll find them in the dark.
• A folding water container takes almost no space until a water outage is announced.
• Don't store anything in shared hallways or on escape routes. Keep the way out clear in a fire.

If you're in a top-floor flat, UKHSA says it's one of the homes most likely to overheat in summer. See keeping cool without air con.

The Priority Services Register

Your energy supplier and your network operator (the company that runs the wires and pipes) each keep a Priority Services Register. Ofgem says you can ask to join if you:

• have reached state pension age
• are pregnant or have young children
• have a disability or long-term medical condition, including mental health conditions, or need powered medical equipment
• struggle to speak or read English
• are going through a recent change such as an injury, a bereavement or losing your job

Members can get priority support in an emergency and, wherever possible, advance notice of planned power cuts, plus extras such as a password scheme for callers. Contact your supplier and your network operator separately, and again if you switch supplier. Ofgem's page doesn't mention any charge. Our PSR checker helps you find who to call.

What not to spend money on

• Big "survival" bundles before you have the basics. Ordinary tins and bottled water do the same job for less.
• Anything sold with fake urgency. Be Ready asks for 3 days of normal supplies, built up gradually.

Where the official advice stops

Be Ready doesn't give any advice for flats, or a budget plan with prices. The space tricks above are our own. Prices change, so we only show the product prices we checked, with the date, in the "what to buy" box.

Related guides

• An emergency plan for flats: what's different, and what to ask
• UK emergency kit checklist (printable)
• Priority Services Register: a plain guide
• Stock rotation at home: first in, first out

Free tools

• Emergency supplies calculator (water and food for your household)
• Make a household emergency plan (free)
• Priority Services Register checker

We're an independent UK site, not the government. We check guides against official sources and link to them. In an emergency call 999.

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