The European self-storage sector is at an earlier stage of development compared to its US counterpart. Institutional investment in the sector has yet to take off in a meaningful way, despite strong underlying fundamentals and attractive investment performance. Between 2015 and 2018, just €1.2 billion was invested in the sector, less than a tenth of the amount channeled into US self-storage over the same period.

This is due, in part, to the limited range of institutional-grade assets available for purchase and the highly fragmented nature of the market, which together have deterred private institutional investment on a large scale. However, there are other examples of property sectors in Europe, such as the private rented sector, where institutionalisation was slow to start but has since picked up rapidly. A close analysis of the market points to similar potential for convergence in self-storage operations and investments.

Current conditions

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