A home emergency kit is not a bunker in a box. It is the handful of things that let your household get through a few days at home with no power, no mains water or no open shops: light, news, a charged phone, warmth, first aid, water and food you can eat cold. This emergency kit UK guide covers what a kit has to do, how to judge the ready-made kits on sale, and when building your own is the better call. It ends with the boxes we put together, and with who doesn't need one at all.
What does an emergency kit actually need to do?
Start from the job, not the shopping list. The government's Prepare campaign asks you to think about "an emergency lasting a few days, such as a power cut or water outage". Picture that at home on a cold evening and the jobs sort themselves.
- Light you can trust. A battery or wind-up torch. The government's power cuts page points out that using your phone's torch "will drain its batteries more quickly", and that phone is also your map, your news and your way to call for help.
- News when the internet is down. A battery or wind-up radio. Home broadband stops with the power.
- A charged phone. A portable power bank, kept topped up.
- Heat. Gas boilers and heat pumps need electricity to run, so blankets and warm layers matter more than people expect.
- First aid and hygiene. A first aid kit, hand sanitiser and wet wipes for when the taps are off.
- Water and food. Bottled water, and food that needs no cooking, with a tin opener.
- A plan on paper. Phone numbers written down, including 105 to report a power cut in England, Scotland and Wales.
Most homes already cover some of this. The Cabinet Office's UK Public Survey of Risk Perception, Resilience and Preparedness 2026 found 53% of people have a battery, solar or wind-up torch and 54% have a power bank. Only 23% have a battery, solar or wind-up FM radio, though, and the radio is the item that tells you how long this is going to last.
Water is the biggest gap of all. On a measure of 3 litres per person per day, the same survey found just 4% of households hold three days of bottled water. Most of the rest have less than a day's worth.
For the full list in the government's own words, item by item, read our guide to the government emergency kit list.
How do you judge a ready-made emergency kit?
Search for a home emergency kit in the UK and you will find everything from a torch in a drawstring bag to a crate of survival gadgets. Any of them can call itself an emergency kit. Before you buy one, from us or anyone else, put it through five questions.
- Does it follow the government's list? Lay the contents next to the list on prepare.campaign.gov.uk. Torch, radio, power bank, spare batteries, first aid, hygiene, water, food that needs no cooking, and baby supplies if you need them. A kit stuffed with survival gadgets but missing a radio has its priorities backwards.
- Is it sized for your household? One sleeping bag and two days of food do not stretch to a family of four. Check how many people the kit is meant for, and buy for the household you have.
- What does it do about water? Purification tablets and filters treat water you already have. They do not replace a stock of drinking water. The government's water outage page recommends buying sealed bottled water rather than filling up your own containers, so plan to keep some whatever the kit contains.
- Does it leave room for what only you can supply? No kit can hold your prescriptions. The government asks you to keep "enough of the medication you need to keep you going for several days", and that conversation is with your GP or pharmacist, not a retailer.
- Does it come with a plan? Kit without a plan is a box in a cupboard. Look for a printed household plan and somewhere to write the numbers you would need if your phone died.
A kit that passes all five is worth having. One that fails the first two is a gift set.
Should you build your own kit or buy one?
Both are reasonable. The government is clear that you don't have to do it all in one go: "you could just add to your emergency kit when you are able and build it up over time". The British Red Cross says the same, suggesting you add an item with the weekly shop and build the kit gradually. So the real question is which route your household will actually finish.
| Build your own | A ReadyHome box | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Cheaper item by item, especially if you own some of it already | One price, from £199 with free delivery |
| Time | Sourcing around twenty items, often over several weeks | One order |
| Completeness | Up to you, and easy to stall halfway | Arrives complete for the household size on the box |
| Water | You buy bottled water | Water purification included; you still keep bottled water |
| Medication and baby needs | Yours to add | Yours to add: no box includes medication or baby supplies |
| Plan | Free government template to print and fill in | Printed household plan, checklist and emergency contact card included |
| Best for | People with camping kit and time | People who want it done in one go |
The honest trade is money against time. Doing it yourself costs less if you are patient and already own a decent torch and a first aid kit. A box costs more than the cheapest version of the same list, and in return the job is finished the day it arrives.
The survey suggests that finishing is where most people come unstuck. Asked what had stopped them preparing further, 23% said they did not know enough about what to do, 25% did not want products going out of date, and 11% said they simply had not had the time. A kit you meant to build last winter protects nobody this one.
Who doesn't need a ready-made box?
Plenty of households. If you camp, you probably own a lantern, a sleeping bag, a power bank and a first aid kit already, and a box would duplicate most of it. Add a wind-up radio, tinned food, bottled water and a paper list of numbers and you are close to the government's list for a fraction of the cost.
The same goes for anyone who enjoys the job. If working through a checklist over a few weekends sounds satisfying rather than tedious, build it. You will know every item in it.
A box makes most sense when the person who needs the kit is not the person with the time to source it: a parent buying for a household with small children, or an adult child sorting things for a parent who lives alone.
Which ReadyHome box fits your household?
We are a reseller, not a manufacturer. We choose, source and pack the items into one box, sized by household, based on the government's household checklist.
- Essential, for 1-2 people, at £199. A wind-up radio and torch, a phone power bank, a first aid kit and batteries, water purification, food and a tin opener, blankets, a hygiene kit and a printed household plan.
- Complete, for 3-4 people, at £399. Everything in Essential, plus a 20,000mAh power bank and lantern, a family first aid kit, a water purification filter, 72-hour food rations, a thermal sleeping bag, a multi-tool with tape and paracord, a waterproof document bag and a personalised household plan.
- Family, for 4 or more, at £499. Everything in Complete, plus the READY GO evacuation grab bag, extra food and water purification, and extra blankets and ponchos.
Whichever you choose, add three things no box can: a supply of sealed bottled water, enough of your own medication for several days, and the phone numbers that matter to you, written on paper. No box includes baby supplies, so if you have a baby at home, stock up on nappies and ready-to-feed formula yourself.
What should you add to any kit, bought or built?
The Red Cross list includes a few things that are easy to forget: cash for essentials, spare house and car keys, and copies of important documents in a waterproof bag. Card machines need power too. Add pet food if you have pets, and spare glasses if anyone relies on them.
Then put the kit somewhere you can find in the dark, and tell everyone in the house where it is.
A small cost against a bad few days
Nobody buys home insurance because they expect a fire. An emergency kit is the same kind of decision: bought once, checked once a year, and forgotten until the evening the lights go out and it is the most useful thing in the house. If there is a baby, an older parent or someone with a health condition at home, those are the evenings that matter most.
If you would rather have it done than keep meaning to do it, choose the ReadyHome box that fits your household. Everything packed in one box and delivered free.