I can't justify the cost or space required for a decent pillar drill as my garage is very 'compact & bijou' so the next best option has to be a drill stand. I realise that they are not a patch on a pillar drill but I can hang a drill stand from the rafters when not in use. There are a few around and they all seem very cheap, but which one is decent quality?

If on a tight budget, you are best to buy one of those cheapo £45-£50 Machine Mart jobs. Not very good, but better than a stand, and light enough to be shoved away.

I wouldnt waste your money when you have tried it once it will live in the roof

Raz, you have U2U. Cheers Ray

We inherited one at work - it had been cunningly adapted to be used to press butterfly/v nails into the corners of picture frames but does the drilling job OK as long as youare not demanding precision engineering, ours was obviously designed to be used in the days before keyless chucks were even thought of so consequently it is a bit of a struggle getting the more modern chuck through the clamp before tightening stand to drill body. To be honest we have never used it much.
At £20 or whatever they cost + a cheapo Aldi drill (single speed) at about £8 you are more than half way to buying a small pillar drill ( variable speeds) which would be more acurate and gives more scope for clamping things down, you could still winch that to the roof if that's important.
hth
Mike

I used to keep my pillar drill under the worktop, lot safer than winching into the roof space ??

Thanks for all your suggestions guys and an extra HUGE thanks to Chippy who has very kindly donated one to me

Chippy, you are an absolute star!