Market penetration for self-storage in Europe – low but growing.
The self-storage markets in the UK and Europe remain relatively immature when compared to geographies such as the USA and Australia. Industry dynamics remain positive with low penetration levels and growing awareness of the product. In the UK the SSA annual survey (May 2025) confirmed that self-storage capacity stands at 0.94 sq ft per head of population and in Europe the most recent data (FEDESSA’s 2023 report) showed that capacity per capita was significantly below the UK.
Market dynamics – growing supply drives customer awareness and demand
Safestore operates in geographic markets with relatively low consumer awareness of the self-storage product. The range lies between 9% of the population in the UK having never heard of self-storage to as high as 54% in Italy. Awareness has been growing and is a key driver of customer demand and industry growth. This growth is expected to continue as store numbers increase and effective digital marketing and intelligent pricing systems reach new customers.
Supply
In 2025, data published by FEDESSA estimated that there were 10,571 self storage sites across Europe, up 7.3% on 2024 with space increasing 8.3%. In the same period, the total space growth in the geographic markets where Safestore operates was estimated to be 6.8%. The UK, France, Germany and Spain are the largest markets with 68% of the total European self-storage space.
In the UK, the most recent SSA industry report 2025 states that self-storage supply remains relatively fragmented with SSA estimates of 2,915 self-storage facilities including around 1,135 container-based operations, and that Safestore was the industry leader by number of stores, with 139 wholly owned sites. UK total space growth was 7.2% including containers with a 7.7% growth in store numbers. In aggregate, the top five leading operators account for around 42% of the UK store portfolio. The remaining 58% of the market (a total of c.2,350 self-storage outlets including container- based operations) is independently owned in small chains or single units. In London we have more stores inside the M25 area than any other operator. Our French business, UPP, is mainly located in the core wealthier and more densely populated regions of inner Paris and the first belt (central arrondissements), whereas our two main competitors have a greater presence in the outskirts and second belt of Paris.
New supply in London and Paris is likely to continue to be limited in the short and medium term as a result of planning restrictions, competition from a variety of other uses and the availability of suitable land. Our Spanish business currently operates in Barcelona and Madrid with one store in Pamplona. The metropolitan areas of Barcelona and Madrid have combined growing high-density populations of twelve million inhabitants and significant barriers to entry. Our focus in the Netherlands market is on the densely populated Amsterdam and Randstad conurbations. The Netherlands is the second most developed self-storage market in Europe (after the UK). In Belgium our presence is focused on Brussels and the significant urban conurbations of Liege, Charleroi and Nivelles.
Customer awareness and usage
Consumer awareness of self-storage is increasing, providing an opportunity for future industry growth. The SSA UK survey indicates that approximately half of consumers have low awareness about the service offered by self-storage operators or had not heard of self-storage at all. Over the last ten years awareness of the presence of a local self-storage store has risen from circa 40% to 50%. Therefore, the opportunity to grow awareness, combined with limited new industry supply, makes for an attractive industry backdrop.
Across Europe an average of 4% of the population currently use self storage and 10% have used it in the past.
In the UK, many of our new customers are using self-storage for the first time and it is largely a brand-blind purchase. Typically, customers requiring storage start their journey by conducting online research using generic keywords in their locality (e.g. ‘storage in Borehamwood’, ‘self-storage near me’) which means that geographic coverage and search engine prominence remain key competitive advantages. This also supports our focus on our well-trained store staff who play such an important role in the purchasing journey of customers, assisting with space and ancillary service requirements.
Brand awareness in self-storage is growing, but with 51% of respondents in the 2025 SSA survey able to name at least one brand and higher rates of penetration per capita, there is still further awareness to go to help support demand growth. A strong online presence remains key to driving customer engagement with the SSA UK survey showing that 68% of respondents (FY 2024: 76%) search for self-storage online while only 32% of respondents (FY 2024: 30%) cite knowledge of a physical store as the reason for enquiry.
Across Europe, we observe similar trends in the FEDESSA European Self Storage Report 2025.
Drivers of demand and usage
Self storage is a needs-based product, which is why effective marketing and growing awareness of the product is so important in driving industry growth.
There are numerous drivers of self-storage demand, with most domestic and business customers needing temporary or permanent storage for a host of different reasons at any point in the economic cycle. For domestic customers these include life events such as births, marriages, bereavements, divorces, house moves, renovations and moves between rental properties. For business customers usage may be driven by inventory growth, seasonality, flexibility or a big, short-term project that doesn’t warrant new premises. This results in a market that while not immune from fluctuations in economic conditions is fairly resilient throughout the cycle. The UK SSA 2025 report depicts the current reasons for using self-storage and notes that the drivers do change, with the redecoration of homes moving from 13% in 2014 to 24.4% in 2025.
