UK self storage industry statistics · 2026
UK self storage statistics, with sources.
The figures we use to run StoreBay and to write everything else on this site — each one attributed and dated, so you can check it rather than take our word for it. Free to cite.
01 / The market
How big UK self storage actually is
The national picture, from the industry's own annual report.
3,143
self storage stores in the UK
The whole national estate, not just the branded operators.
Source: SSA UK / Cushman & Wakefield Annual Industry Report 2026
£1.3bn
annual industry turnover
Across all stores and operator sizes.
Source: SSA UK / Cushman & Wakefield Annual Industry Report 2026
67.5m sq ft
total storage space
Gross internal area across the estate.
Source: SSA UK / Cushman & Wakefield Annual Industry Report 2026
0.94 sq ft
of storage per person
Up from 0.89 in 2023. The UK is a low-supply market by international standards — see the note below on why we do not publish a US comparison figure.
Source: Inside Self-Storage, reporting the C&W / SSA UK report (fetched 2026-07-18)
02 / Demand & performance
What a UK store actually achieves
Occupancy and revenue are the two numbers every appraisal turns on — and both are commonly misapplied.
74.5%
average occupancy, all stores
Mature stores run at 79.6% — the honest steady-state assumption for an appraisal is the mature figure, not 100%.
Source: SSA UK / Cushman & Wakefield Annual Industry Report 2026
£27.40
average annual revenue per sq ft (ex VAT)
Down 5.1% year on year. Critically this is revenue per LETTABLE sq ft — applying it to gross internal area overstates income by the whole net-to-gross gap.
Source: SSA UK / Cushman & Wakefield Annual Industry Report 2026
76%
of use is domestic, not business
The primary driver is a simple lack of space at home, which is why demand holds up through a downturn.
Source: SSA UK / Cushman & Wakefield Annual Industry Report 2026
94.2%
of stores offer online booking
Online booking is now the category baseline, not a differentiator. A site without it is competing at a structural disadvantage.
Source: SSA UK / Cushman & Wakefield Annual Industry Report 2026
03 / Operators
How operators are entering and running sites
Where new supply comes from, how quickly technology is being adopted, and the tax line everyone forgets.
40%
of new store openings are container storage
The clearest signal of how new operators actually enter: container sites need a fraction of the capital and scale in small increments.
Source: SSA UK / Cushman & Wakefield Annual Industry Report 2026
23%
of operators actively use AI
Up from 9% a year earlier. See the note below — a widely-repeated 54% figure for this statistic is wrong and we do not publish it.
Source: SSA UK / Cushman & Wakefield Annual Industry Report 2026
43.2p / 48p / 50.8p
England business rates multipliers, 2026-27
Small business multiplier below £51,000 rateable value; standard to £499,999; the higher multiplier at £500,000 and above. Small Business Rate Relief is 100% at RV ≤£12,000 (sole property), tapering to nil at £15,000.
Source: gov.uk (from 1 April 2026)
04 / The listed operators
What the REITs report
The listed operators publish audited figures, which makes them the most reliable numbers in the industry — and the least representative of a small site.
70.5%
store-level EBITDA margin (Big Yellow, FY26)
On store revenue of £207.6m and store EBITDA of £146.5m, year to 31 March 2026. Average achieved rate £35.98/sq ft (+4%); closing occupancy 74.2%, 77.0% like-for-like. A listed REIT is not a proxy for a container yard — it is the top of the market.
Source: Big Yellow Group FY26 results
£234.3m
Safestore FY25 group revenue
Up 5.0% at constant currency, like-for-like +3.1%, year to 31 October 2025.
Source: Safestore Holdings final results, 15 January 2026
c.€450m
forecast European self storage investment (2025)
From c.€260m transacted year-to-date plus a c.€200m pipeline, with €1bn+ forecast for 2026–27. Note this figure is EUROPE-WIDE, not UK.
Source: CBRE with FEDESSA, European Self Storage Industry Report 2025
05 / What we don't publish
Figures we deliberately leave out, and why
A statistics page is only worth citing if it is honest about its limits. These are figures we could easily have published, and chose not to.
“54% of UK operators use AI”
This figure circulates widely and is wrong. The SSA UK / C&W 2026 report states 23%, up from 9% the previous year. We record the correct figure and never repeat the 54% version, whatever the secondary source.
A UK-vs-US storage-per-person multiple
We publish the UK figure (0.94 sq ft per person) because it is sourced. The US comparator is quoted inconsistently across secondary sources and we hold no primary figure for it, so we do not state a multiple like “several times below the US”.
A market prime yield
We can source Big Yellow’s own portfolio valuation yield (~5.0–5.1% net initial, FY26). That is one operator’s stabilised portfolio, not the market’s prime yield — and no free, verifiable UK prime-yield figure exists. Presenting the former as the latter would be a materially different claim.
Competitor prices that are not published
Several UK vendors are quote-only. Where a vendor publishes no price list we say so and stop; we never estimate, extrapolate or infer a figure on their behalf.
06 / Using these figures
How to cite this page
Every figure above belongs to the organisation credited beside it — cite them, not us.
Where a figure comes from the SSA UK / Cushman & Wakefield Annual Industry Report, cite that report directly. Where it comes from a listed operator’s results, cite the results announcement. If this page itself is useful as the collation, cite it as “StoreBay, UK Self Storage Industry Statistics (2026)” with the URL — and please keep the source attribution attached to the number.
Figures are refreshed when the underlying reports are. The industry report is annual, the REIT results are half-yearly, and the business rates multipliers change each April.