Self storage booms as tenants use it as an alternative to upsizing, data suggests

Last year, turnover in the self-storage sector reached over £1.08bn 

Self-storage is increasingly being used as an alternative to upsizing amid sky-high rental costs and property prices, findings suggest.

There was a 49 per cent increase in self-storage enquiries in the latest quarter compared to the previous quarter, data from Compare My Move claims.

A growing number of people are turning to self-storage as a longer-term option, according to the data.

Lengthy: A growing number of people are also turning to self-storage as a longer-term option

Last year, turnover in the self-storage sector reached over £1.08billion.

Average rental returns came in at £26.23 per square foot, up 1 per cent on the previous year.

There was 50million square feet of self-storage space in the UK last year.

Dave Sayce, founder and managing director of Compare My Move, told This is Money: 'Higher rents is one of the main factors when it comes to people choosing a smaller property when renting, especially in larger cities.

'London has seen the highest rent increase in England 11.2 per cent over the past 12 months, and despite this continue to have the smallest average floor size because of the cities density (84m²).

'On average, the difference between a one bedroom flat and a two bedroom flat in the UK around £200 a month, this difference rises to around £450 in London.'

Longer self-storage leases are 'much more popular' than the shorter self-storage leases, Compare My Move said. For enquiries, the most popular timespan is between three to six months.

Conversely, the proportion of people interested in self-storage deals lasting less than two weeks fell by 27.7 per cent in the first quarter, the research claimed.

A chart showing self-storage asking rents per week in 2023, according to Self Storage Association UK

In its 2024 industry report published in April, Self-Storage Association UK, said: 'UK rental stock shows no signs of improving.'

It added: 'The renter demand pool is becoming even more robust. There are more renters overall, growing from 3.9million private renter households in 2011 to 5million in 2021 (Census 2021) in England and Wales.

'The number of renters is forecast to grow, not only due to a growing population but also owing to affordability constraints in the sales market.'

Concerning: A chart showing forecasted housing unaffordability

'The combined result of this is that the number of house moves declined which will have an impact on self storage demand.'

Separate research by KitKeeper last month found that 40 per cent of people said that did not have enough storage space in their homes.

Michael McCreadie, founder of KitKeeper, said: 'As the population grows and housing space is at a premium, many of us are living in small homes with little storage space.

'Despite that, we are consumers of more belongings than ever before, especially when it comes to hobbies, pets and children.'

The cost of self-storage can be steep and vary significantly depending on location, the size of the space required and the duration it is required for.

Rental costs have been rising in recent months, but the pace of growth has started to slow.

Average private rents increased by 8.7 per cent to £1,262 per month in the year to May, down from 8.9 per cent in the year to April, and below the record-high annual rise of 9.2 per cent in March 2024, according to official data published on Wednesday.