The 2022 Report is the eleventh consecutive industry study carried out by the Federation of European Self Storage Associations (FEDESSA), this year’s report is produced jointly with CBRE for the first time. Despite the challenges faced throughout the past year, with COVID-19 disruptions and economic headwinds, the self storage market has continued to perform strongly and investor interest continues to grow with a significant mismatch between the depth of funds targeting the sector and available opportunities.

The survey was produced with input from operators to help quantify the size and drivers of the industry across Europe. We hope it will be a useful reference point for investors and operators in this growing and dynamic market.

We received responses from over 100 operators representing 1000+ facilities in 24 countries, which covers almost a third of the total market. The survey does not include the industries in the United Kingdom, but responses to the Self Storage Association UK’s (SSA UK) 2022 Annual Survey have been added to this report where appropriate.

For the first time the report also includes data from a survey of the public in selected European countries as to their perception of self storage and to gauge market awareness

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Responses to most questions in the survey relate to the facility position as at 31 March 2022.

Key Findings:
  • There has been a 5.1% growth in stores in Europe and a 4.8% growth in storage space in last 12 months
  • Average rent per square metre in Europe is €290, up 7.9% from last year
  • 59% of operators are planning to raise rates significantly in next 12 months
  • Average occupancy is 80.2%, down from 81.5% last year
  • Over half of operators have average occupancy over 85%
  • 77% of operators expect occupancy levels to rise in the next 12 months
  • Awareness of the product varies across Europe with 45% of people in Spain never having heard of self storage, whereas only 12% of respondents in Sweden and 9% of respondents the UK have never heard of self storage
  • Brand awareness is low with one major brand dominating in each market
  • In continental Europe, around 64% of people have never used, or considered using self storage
  • In the Netherlands and Sweden, 12% of people are considering using self storage, while 20% of people in Spain are considering using self storage
  • Inflation is the biggest concern for operators followed by recession and rising land costs
  • Commercial customers have increased from 22% in 2021 to 29% in 2022
  • ESG improvements remain low with only 38% of stores having LED lighting and 3% having solar panels

Download the pdf version of the report 

Historical copies of the report can be found using the links below:

Previous Reports