40 Self-Storage Stats and Facts To Stay on Point with the Current UK Trends

Self-storage has recently experienced significant expansion and has elevated in popularity among the UK home and company owners. After all, it is an efficient way to tidy your home or office and may also be used for long-term storage. In addition, many business owners have realized the value of launching their own self-storage operations.

We have gathered some industry statistics for your to review and provide context for the current state of the UK self-storage market.

General Self-Storage Statistics for 2022

1. There are 2,050 self-storage facilities in the UK, with an increase of 2.65% compared to last year.

2. Of those 2,050, 621 facilities offer mainly container storage.

3. The UK has roughly 52 million sq ft of self-storage space. That makes 0.76 sq ft of storage space per head of the population.

4. Compared to the rest of the UK, London has around double the capacity for self-storage per person.

5. There are 1015 brands that offer different types of storage services in the UK.

6. The average size of a storage facility in the UK in 2022 is 25,366 sq ft.

7. Domestic customers rent 81% of the space, leaving 19% to the business.

8. The average occupancy has increased by 1% to 83.3% in 2022 – a new record high.

9. The annual industry turnover in 2022 has increased by 4.5% to £930 million.

10. Around 30% of the storage facilities are owned or managed by large companies with 10, or more sites.

11. Due to the pandemic, churn rates have dropped from 118% to 76%.

12. The average rental rate (ARR) has increased by 9% to £26.13 per sq ft – a new record high.

13. 56% of the storage providers have decreased the discounts offered to the customers.

14. The most popular additional service offered by storage providers is waste disposal.

Stats and Facts about Consumers’ Behaviour

15. People renovating their homes are 3 times more likely to rent a storage unit.

16. 41% of storage customers have used this service previously.

17. Death in the family is the most common life event that pushes people to use self-storage.

18. Divorced or separate couples are twice as likely to use a storage service.

19. Generally, users prefer to do their bookings and storage management online, not in person. That is why roughly 86% of the storage companies offer online payment or reservation options to their customers.

20. 73% of users do an internet search when seeking a storage provider, while only 11% use social media channels.

21. 19% of storage clients find their providers through recommendations from family and friends.

22. 7% of users use a phone directory, and roughly 5 % rely on their local newspaper for information.

23. When it comes to making the first contact with the storage company, 35% of users prefer online channels, while another 30% choose to call the company directly. Only 21% resolve to visit the store in person.

24. People that own their homes are more likely to use a storage service than renters.

25. When renting storage, 18% of domestic and 50% of business customers intend to obtain their unit for more than 24 months.

26. After learning about a particular storage service, 53% of potential customers do an additional web search for more information.

27. 38% of users read the online reviews of the storage service providers before making a decision.

28. The most popular storage unit alternative is occupying the garage or other free space of a family member or a friend.

Stats about the Current Storage Users in the UK

29. 89% of self-storage users are happy with the quality of the received services.

30. 55% of storage users are people with an income higher than the average for the UK – £400-£599 per week.

31. The most preferred storage size both by domestic and business users is between 11 and 50 sq. ft., while 1001 sq ft and above units are the least desirable.

32. 65% of storage users choose their unit size after consulting a staff member, while only 9% knew which their ideal unit size was.

33. 22% of domestic users have had their units for more than 1 year.

34. 26% of business users rent their units for 3 to 4 years.

35. 29% of domestic customers used self-storage for reasons associated with house removals.

36. 79% of all storage users are between the ages of 40 and 70 years old.

37. People tend to rent units that are close to their home or place of business. Almost 30% of users are located 6 to 10 minutes from their storage, while only 9% have to travel for 45 minutes or more.

38. 75% of storage customers visit their unit once a month or less.

39. 30% of current storage users say that the main reason they needed a unit was the lack of free space in their homes.

40. 23% of storage users had bought all or some packing materials from the storage provider, while 41% didn’t need any.

Conclusion

The self-storage industry experienced significant rent growth and sales in 2021, and the sector is off to a strong start in 2022. Storage leaders from around the world are certain that this year will bring about robust demand, rent growth, and capital trends. It will be challenging to top 2021 as it was the best year the sector has ever experienced. However, the industry’s excellent economics and secular trends guarantee that demand stays high. Numerous operators have reported higher-than-average occupancy rates, giving them a lot of pricing power and enabling them to boost rates and modify existing leases to reflect current market prices.

Stephanie Cooper

Stephanie is a content marketing specialist for Top Removals for the past several years. She has extensive experience working with moving companies and knows her audience. Stephanie creates engaging and useful content helping the customers of Top Removals with their struggles and providing them with the most accurate insight.