Introduction

London remains one of Europe's most structurally supported Self Storage markets, with strong demand drivers, high rental pricing and population growth underpinning investment appeal.

However, supply distribution is highly uneven across boroughs: while some undersupplied areas can absorb new MLA, others face rising competitive pressure from more modern facilities, requiring granular micro-market analysis to identify genuine opportunity.

To address this, Savills has developed a proprietary Self Storage Score (SSSS) – a consistent framework for comparing local market resilience and investment risk, to inform client decision-making.

London Self Storage Market: Opportunity and Risk

Greater London’s dense and highly urbanised environment currently accommodates 237 Self Storage facilities, accounting for 22% of total traditional Self Storage MLA supply in the UK. This equates to c. 1.35 sq ft per capita, materially above the UK average of c. 0.81 sq ft per capita.

London can accommodate this level of provision due to a strong set of demand drivers, including constrained living space, high rental costs, elevated housing transaction volumes and robust small business activity. Furthermore, London commands the highest rents in the UK: Savills data indicates that prime Zone 1 units are achieving in excess of £75 per sq ft, with Zone 2 rents exceeding £60 per sq ft and Zone 3 rents around £35 to £40 per sq ft.

However, despite this depth of demand and pricing strength, historically high land values have constrained the pace of new supply relative to some regional cities.

For example, Manchester provides 2.12 sq ft per capita across 23 stores, while Birmingham offers 1.37 sq ft per capita across 34 stores. Self Storage rental rates in these regional markets are slightly below London Zone 3 levels, with rents in Manchester and Birmingham at a blended average of £28 per sq ft and £24 per sq ft, respectively.

Whilst London is one of the most densely supplied markets in the UK, it supports an active development pipeline. With a current population of c. 8.9 million, the capital is forecast to grow by 6.5% over the next decade – a rate that outpaces many other major European cities, including Paris (-4.6%) and Berlin (0.3%). With relatively low levels of new housing in the capital, there is likely to be sustained pressure on urban space that continues to drive Self Storage demand.

This population density is compounded by structural housing market characteristics: London recorded 76,600 housing transactions between November 2024 and 2025, representing 8.6 transactions per 1,000 residents – a figure that is above Birmingham (7.6) and Manchester (6.9), but below Leeds (11.0).

Housing moves typically generate Self Storage demand because households require temporary space during relocation. Taken together, these indicators reinforce London's position as one of the most structurally supported Self Storage markets in Europe.

While overall supply in London is higher than the national average, provision on a per capita basis varies significantly across boroughs, with a surprisingly uneven distribution of supply. Sq ft of MLA per capita ranges from 0.30 in Redbridge to 3.11 in Hounslow.

The capital has seen recent Self Storage development activity, and meaningful future pipelines will drive increases in supply per capita across certain locations. Our analysis shows that there are 27 new stores with planning consent in London, which will provide a further 1.7 million sq ft of MLA should they all be developed.

While many in the sector focus primarily on supply levels, our analysis places greater emphasis on the strength of underlying demand drivers and the extent to which this additional capacity can be absorbed. Local markets with above national average supply levels have still performed well historically where the underlying demand can support this.

Given the pipeline, some areas, such as Hounslow, may see increasing competitive pressure on legacy secondary stock as newer, higher-quality facilities are delivered, while other areas will remain structurally undersupplied at a micro-market level. Savills has mapped every Self Storage facility across the UK, auditing each record to ensure accuracy of floor area data, and incorporating development pipeline data to project how Maximum Lettable Area (MLA) will evolve. When combined with demand modelling, this provides a comprehensive view of existing supply, future MLA delivery and the emerging balance between undersupply and oversupply at a granular micro-market level.

Central to this is the Savills Self Storage Score, which combines precise measures of supply density with granular micro-market demand indicators, including population density and forecast growth, house size, residential transactions activity levels, SME numbers, MLA per capita and number of people per store, among others, all assessed within defined drive-times reflecting the stores’ catchments. This framework allows us to benchmark the relative strength and future resilience of any location in the UK – insights which are especially critical for assessing both the present dynamics and future trajectory of the London market.

London Development Pipeline

Savills development pipeline analysis identifies where new MLA will be absorbed and where supply risk and displacement pressures are emerging across London:

• Borough-level Self Storage development pipeline and resulting MLA per capita shifts

• Overlay of future supply against existing provision to identify emerging competitive pressure

• Generational profiling of existing stock to assess displacement risk to legacy facilities

• Residential development overlays to highlight where future housing delivery may support additional MLA

Our development pipeline, comprising assets under construction and those with full planning consent, suggests that full delivery would result in a c. 14% increase in supply across London. Completion of this pipeline would take London from c. 1.35 to c. 1.54 sq ft MLA per capita.

Overlaying the London development pipeline shows that some previously undersupplied areas will see competition increase from historically low levels. For example, Barnet's supply is expected to rise from 1.17 sq ft per capita to 1.75 sq ft per capita post-delivery, but with an SSSS of 5, the market will absorb this space. In Lambeth, MLA is forecast to rise from 1.66 to 1.99 sq ft MLA per capita, but an SSSS score of 5.25 indicates there is enough demand to support this new space, as it remains more than 1 sq ft per capita lower than the most supplied market in London.

Hammersmith & Fulham has a significant development pipeline, set to increase current supply by 85%, of which 77% is attributable to a single site. The SSSS of 5.50 indicates that, as in Lambeth, the market is well positioned to absorb this additional supply.

Conversely, a number of catchments exhibit little or no development pipeline despite clear capacity to support additional MLA. For instance, Islington has a very high SSSS but no major developments under construction or with approved planning permission. Notably, pipeline Self Storage development is not consistently aligned with areas experiencing the strongest residential growth on a per capita basis. For example, boroughs such as Harrow and Bromley have no Self Storage development pipeline despite having some of the largest residential development pipelines on a per capita basis.

Our mapping also classifies Self Storage facilities by generation, from first through to fourth, providing a clear indication of legacy stock concentrations within specific micro-markets. This breakdown enables operators and investors to identify where opportunities exist to displace older facilities, as well as where incumbent operators may themselves be at risk of displacement.

In several locations, a high proportion of older stock coincides with high forward MLA delivery relative to the existing supply. For example, in Camden, 75% of MLA supply is first- or second-generation facilities. With a development pipeline of c. 88,000 sq ft of MLA expected to come forward, representing c. 34% of current supply, the borough is set to move from below the London average on a per capita basis to broadly in line with it post-delivery.

However, with a balanced Savills Self Storage Score of over 4.0, we expect this new supply to be absorbed, and for the legacy stores to find a more competitive market than they have enjoyed so far.

By comparison, 58% of current supply in Kensington and Chelsea is first- or second-generation, with no active development pipeline. MLA provision remains below the London average, at 0.93 sq ft per capita versus 1.35 sq ft. These specific examples demonstrate the differing micro-market dynamics across London boroughs.

Analysis of the development sites within our database, using a 15-minute micro-market catchment, indicates that the vast majority of developments are not of concern and are well supported by local demand fundamentals. This data adds an important dimension to supply risk assessment, highlighting markets where new entrants with modern, high-specification facilities may reshape local performance dynamics.

Alongside this, we overlay residential development forecasts to identify boroughs where future housing delivery is likely to elevate Self Storage demand materially. Our data shows that the six boroughs with the highest number of residential units with full planning permission and under construction per capita have no Self Storage development pipelines.

Our granular approach demonstrates that understanding London’s Self Storage market requires looking beyond headline supply to the balance between pipeline delivery and local demand. This highlights where new MLA can be absorbed, where competition will intensify, and where structural undersupply remains, enabling more targeted and informed investment decisions.

Definitions

• Self Storage: Savills data captures professional Self Storage facilities that are either conversions or purpose-built. It does not include container Self Storage facilities.

• Rents: These are the average annual rents achieved net of discount and VAT.

• Maximum Lettable Area: The total area of lettable Self Storage units available when a Self Storage facility is fully fitted out.

• Savills Self Storage Score (SSSS): A scoring system within a catchment area which balances the current and proposed supply of Self Storage with the underlying demand drivers, providing an insight into the market’s relative attractiveness.

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