During The Movers and Storers Show in the UK last November, Rennie Schafer from the Self Storage Association UK painted a picture of the self storage industry, how it changed during COVID and what it can expect in the near future.
He said that self stores had been able to stay open during COVID, though some had restricted opening hours. It was considered to be an essential service as it was storing goods for the health service and online retailers.
During 2020 occupancy rates in self stores increased from 76.2% to 82.3%. The figure is currently over 83%. For stores that had been open for over five years it is closer to 90%. Rennie explained that this is around the optimum figure. “Don’t want them to be 100% full because if they are you have nothing to sell,” he explained. Rates per cubic foot also went up. “So companies have been filling the space and filling it at a more expensive rate.” This has been a trend for some time but, according to Rennie, “COVID just gave it a boost.”
Another interesting statistic is that churn rates slowed. Rennie said that most stores, on average, change their entire store every 12 months or so. During 2020 customers stayed longer as the reasons for storing were different: e.g. many stored goods to make room to work from home. There was also an increase in the percentage of transactions that were conducted online. “I really don’t see that changing moving forward,” said Rennie.
The UK market has continued to grow with around 2100 stores and 51m sq ft of space. “That’s important because if it’s growing steadily it’s growing with market demand. For the last five years demand for self storage has outstripped supply.” He said that the reason there was a lack of supply is because of the limited access to land in the UK.
Rennie talked about the reasons for the increasing demand ...
Photo: Rennie Schafer, CEO, Self Storage Association UK.