Australia is a developed country yet the self storage sector there has yet to grow. It has existing storage facilities but the number remains way below that of the U.S.
Data in 2011 showed that rentals were slow and occupancies in some areas were even stagnant. There were areas, however, that had increase in rentals. In addition, construction of local self storage facilities was few with some of them even reducing employees.
A positive development in the country was the joint venture of National Storage and Heitman, a real estate investment management firm based in Chicago, Illinois. This project, considered the biggest investment in Australia's storage industry, led to the acquisition of some 20 storage properties and businesses with a total worth of AUD $180. Established in 2000, National Storage currently has 60 facilities.
This joint venture covers 11,000 storage units. They are situated in various locations such as in Brisbane, Hobart, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Sunshine Coast.
Many providers in Australia are covered under the Self Storage Association of Australasia (SSAA). More than 80 percent of operators are members including the major companies such as Rent a Space, Fort Knox, Kennards, Storage Kind and National Storage.
Similar to those in the U.S., self storage facilities in Australia also come in different types and sizes. There are units meant for household items, documents, vehicles, wines and there's also the business storage type. In terms of size, the smallest is the locker style unit. There are also the double garage sizes and larger ones.
Terms and policies are almost the same as well. Many operators offer flexible terms which means a customer can rent a unit for as long as he or she needs to store his personal items there. Payment option is normally on a monthly basis and the contract can be renewed upon expiration depending on the tenant.
A 2010 study on the demand for self storage in Australia and New Zealand found that there was a 17 percent increase compared to the previous years. The research that looked into the factors that led people to use self storage also showed that half of the potential customers would normally use the internet to look for an ideal facility.
In addition, nearly 40 percent of customers had used the same facility before. The rate is 20.4 percent up from the 2008 figure. Majority or 87.7 percent also expressed satisfaction over the service provided to them by their preferred facility.
Another study that focused on traffic patterns and parking requirements suggested specific rates for the different sizes of rental units. The research found that there's low traffic as there's really no peak time or day at any facility. Also, most sites were found to have no proper layout for automatic traffic counters.
Most sites were also found to be using the security gate system to control the vehicles coming in and out of the sites. The issue identified here pertains to tailgating which the researchers claimed could be solved through the use of the so-called "door data."
With these facts presented, it's noteworthy that the self storage sector in Australia is in a favorable state.
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