Mostly households. In the Self Storage Association UK’s 2026 industry report, about three in four storage customers were households (75.9%) and about one in four were businesses (24.1%), and the most common reason people gave for considering storage was simply not having enough room at home.
If you’re thinking about storage, you’re in good company: it’s an everyday answer to ordinary life, not a last resort.
Why people store
After a lack of space at home, the report’s next most common reasons were moving house and a big life event. In practice that looks like:
- a move, with a gap between selling one home and getting the keys to the next;
- a renovation, while a kitchen, loft or whole floor is being done;
- downsizing, when the furniture from a family home won’t all fit the new one;
- a change in life, such as a new baby, a family member coming home, a separation or a bereavement.
It isn’t only young movers, either: people aged 55 to 64 were the largest age group in the report, at 31%.
Businesses
The other quarter are businesses. The association’s reports describe storage being “commonly used by small businesses as they expand and move from being home businesses to something larger”, and by “a growing number of online retailers”, mostly for goods and records. A unit is for storage, so it works best as a stockroom you visit rather than an office or shop; our business storage page explains how customers use it.
Storing for someone else
Plenty of people book on someone else’s behalf: parents storing a student’s things over the summer, executors clearing a house while an estate is sorted out, and families helping a parent move into care.
Short stays and long ones
Some people store for a few weeks; many stay much longer. In the report’s customer survey, about 39% had been in their unit for three years or more. Our minimum stay is two weeks, so you can store for as long or as short a time as your plans need.
Find your guide
Whichever group you’re in, we’ve written a guide for it:
- Self storage when moving house
- Self storage during a renovation
- Self storage for downsizers
- Student storage
- Clearing an inherited house
When you’re ready, get a price online for your nearest site, or call us on 0800 2545585 and we’ll help you work out the right size.
Related questions
- How do I know what unit size I need?
- Is self storage cheaper than moving to a bigger house?
- Can I keep my storage unit longer than planned?
Further reading