Boom in self-storage units as more Australians take to apartment living

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Urbis has seen an increased construction volume of premium purpose-built self-storage facilities by both national and state-based owners.

A balloon in apartment living was fuelling stronger demand for self-storage and would be the major factor in driving revenue growth, Mr Blackwell said.

Brisbane had the highest increase in people living in apartments of 25.5 per cent between the 2011 and 2016 census dates. Sydney’s apartment dwellers grew by nearly 19 per cent, while the number in Melbourne was up 9.41 per cent.

“Urbis has observed a strong correlation between higher-density living and the demand for self-storage in areas such as Waterloo in NSW, Hawthorn in Victoria and Fortitude Valley in Queensland,” he said.

“Demand for self-storage will continue to grow in areas such as Macquarie Park in NSW which is undergoing higher density residential development and significant population growth.”

Unit residents accounted for 28.8 per cent of self-storage users, despite only forming 13.6 per cent of the Australian population, separate Urbis research shows.

Mr Blackwell said self-storage companies were opting for purpose-built facilities, which could charge higher storage fee rates for better customer amenity, rather than converting warehouses.

“Urbis has seen an increased construction volume of premium purpose-built self-storage facilities by both national and state-based owners.”

The industry’s revenue in Australia is expected to hit $1.2 billion next year, the result of an annualised 3.7-per-cent growth from 2013 to 2018, according to an IBISWorld report.