UK SELF STORAGE INDUSTRY REPORT 2023

When considering this data on a regional basis, the South West was the only region not to increase its rental returns. The East of England had the highest increase, 23%, followed by Scotland with a 15% increase. London and Yorkshire are the only regions to have consistently increased their rental returns over the last 5 years.

Another sign that operators are being somewhat more conservative with pricing is the change in incentives offered to customers. Many customers new to the industry believe the price will be lower than what it is, as demonstrated in the public survey data later in this report. This means the upfront discounts operators often offer can entice customers to use self storage for the first time. Once they have experienced the service, almost all self storage customers end up staying for a longer period than they initially booked it for, returning to normal pricing, which gives operators the opportunity to recover the upfront discounts. In 2021, operators decreased their level of discounts, showing confidence in the market. In 2022, they returned to the normal pattern of keeping discounts the same. However, this means keeping the same as the reduced levels in 2021 for many operators, so this is still a positive sign, and only 9% of respondents indicated they increased discounts.

SELF STORAGE

ANNUAL REPORT 2023

NET AVERAGE BILLED RENT BY REGION ( / SF P.A.)

2022 2021 2020 2019 2018

45

40

35

30

CHANGE IN INCENTIVES PROVIDED OVER THE PAST YEAR

25

100

20

90

15

80

10

70

5

60

£ 39.26

£ 28.07

£ 21.95

£ 19.62

£ 19.16

£ 29.99

£ 20.87

£ 24.41

£ 22.53

£ 27.19

0

50

UK

40

SOUTH EAST

EAST

WEST

WEST

& THE

SOUTH

NORTH

30

HUMBER

EAST OF

LONDON

MIDLANDS & wALES

AVERAGE

ENGLAND

MIDLANDS

SCOTLAND

£

YORKSHIRE

20

9 %

9 %

8 %

10

5 %

Rental returns in the regions need to be considered with the other economic conditions. While returns are highest in London, so is the cost of living, land costs, and construction. This chart shows rental returns for mature stores against the household disposable income for the region. Once again, Yorkshire and London stand out for having a greater gap between their rental returns and disposable income. The East Midlands have the lowest returns compared to disposable income.

2017 90 %

2021 42 %

56 %

2018 76 %

2019 85 %

2022 78 %

2020 74 %

19 %

18 %

13 %

13 %

2 %

2 %

3 %

0

DECREASED

INCREASED

STAYED BROADLY THE SAME

%

RENTAL RETURNS FOR MATURE STORES VS DIPSOSABLE INCOME

35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 10,000 15,000 5,000 0

30 25 20 15 10

0 5

UK

WEST MIDLANDS & WALES

EAST MID LANDS

LONDON SOUTH EAST

SOUTH WEST

EAST OF ENGLAND

NORTH SCOTLAND YORK SHIRE & THE HUMBER

AVERAGE RENTAL RATE (MATURE STORES)

HOUSEHOLD DISPOSABLE INCOME PER CAPITA

£

%

SOURCE: OXFORD ECONOMICS

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