With over 50,000 self-storage facilities in the United States alone, and so many more around the world, this multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry doesn’t look to be going away any time soon. There are plenty of reasons why people turn to self-storage, and a great many benefits to doing so today.
Here we will take a look at self-storage in Australia and more generally to help you decide if self-storage is the right solution for your storage needs.
What are the benefits of self-storage?
There are so many benefits to self-storage firstly over other storage options and then over simply dealing with piles of items or having to throw out many of your possessions in certain situations. General storage tends to involve a company collecting your belongings and keeping them in a secure location such as a warehouse until you are ready to remove them from storage entirely. This means that you have far less flexibility in being able to access and add or remove items when it suits you.
For people who need somewhere to keep their possessions for a short or longer period of time there are several choices that you can make. You can try and find a friend or family member who has some space but this can be a real inconvenience and cause issues down the line. You could also simply reduce your belongings by giving some away or throwing stuff out, but particularly if your space issue is a short term one, you may be getting rid of things that you will want again in a few months.
Self-storage comes with a number of benefits, and here are several of the key ones to get you started:
Self-storage offers flexibility
In so many ways, self-storage works however you wish it to suit your circumstances. If you need a place to keep items for a month or so, that is no problem. If you need a small locker all the way up to a large container, you can find the kind of space to meet your needs. You can also rotate what you are storing, access what you need when you need it and don’t have to give notice like you do with storage.
Self-storage gives you the space you need
Whether you are decorating your house, moving, temporarily renting a smaller house or don’t have enough room for your inventory in your office, self-storage can offer you the space you need. Many businesses use self-storage to keep shipments, papers or spare goods until they have the room to fit them elsewhere. Similarly, people waiting to move or rent can place bulkier items here to give them more space at home in the interim.
Self-storage is more affordable than most alternatives
For many businesses and households, it makes more sense to use self-storage facilities like Keep It to hold their overflow items or stock than to buy or rent a larger home or office. This is especially true if the additional goods are only likely to be a short-term or one-time thing, as renting a bigger space can be pricey especially if you may not need the extra room a month from now.
Self-storage is great for students and travellers
For students leaving their accommodation for the summer before returning for the new school year, or for those heading off for semesters abroad or off travelling the world, self-storage can be an ideal solution to what to do with their possessions. Instead of hiring a van or similar to move all of their worldly goods to their parents’ probably already overcrowded house, placing their belongings in storage can keep them safe and secure for however long is needed.
Do people still use storage?
The answer to whether people still use storage really depends on the kind of storage that we are talking about. More and more people each day opt to use self-storage to meet their storage needs rather than using a more traditional storage company to take away their belongings.
Between the cheaper price, the increased flexibility in the space you can rent, and the ability to access your possessions whenever you want, self-storage is the superior option for most situations. The number of people using self-storage facilities is steadily increasing year by year and doesn’t look likely to drop dramatically any time soon.
How much does storage cost in Australia?
The exact cost of each storage unit in Australia will vary depending on where you are, which company you choose to use, the amount of space you need and so on. You can pay more to opt for more secure units with increased security, environmentally controlled containers that do more to protect your belongings from mould and other damage, and even the city that you are in may impact the price for you.
Taking the national average, self-storage costs Australians approximately A$304 per square metre for an entire year, or a little over A$25 a month. The occupancy rate of Australia’s 1500+ facilities averages in the high 80s to low 90% full, showing that people are pretty happy in general with the cost of storage and are continuing to use and pay these companies this year.
Self-storage is a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide, and prices can vary wherever you are. The average cost for self-storage in Australia is actually slightly lower than many facilities in countries like the UK, and could be a contributing factor in the popularity of self-storage units in Australia.
Conclusion
There are a great many benefits to choosing self-storage to take care of your belongings whatever the reason you have to need to use it. Whether you are taking a trip, downsizing or redecorating the house or office, self-storage gives you the flexibility and access that you need while costing you relatively little from month to month.
For people in Australia, most of the facilities are at a high level of fullness, with that trend reflected across much of the world, and this doesn’t look likely to change anytime soon. If you are thinking about what to do with your belongings that you don’t have space for, self-storage is an excellent option for those items that you can’t or don’t want to throw away.
