Portfolio: Self-Storage
The Self-Storage industry, an industry that rents storage space to tenants, has expanded rapidly in South Africa over the last few years. In fact, we are one of the top ten countries in the world in relation to the number of facilities and all indications are that the South African storage industry is expected to grow from strength to strength in the foreseeable future.
Industry experts often refer to the "4Ds of life" - death, divorce, downsizing and dislocation (the latter referring to either the renter relocating to another area and needing space to temporarily store their items, or a subsequent marriage resulting in the couple having duplicate items) when explaining why storage space is usually required for rental.
Self-Storage has become a globally recognised and specialised property investment - by 2026, the global self-storage market is forecast to be worth $64.71 billion U.S., up from $48.02 billion U.S. in 2020. In South Africa in 2016 there were about 350 storage facilities, with each facility housing approximately 300 units, adding up to a total of 105 000 units available at the time. Now, with a tax base of about 6.89m people in SA and, if only 20% are potential clients for Self-Storage, it becomes clear that there is a need for around 1.37m units to cater for the market in the long term.
At Infinity Storage our units range from 3.5m² – 27m² and we boast an occupancy rate of over 98% as of April 2022. In addition to the immoveable self-storage property, Infinity Storage owns a number of trailers for use by rental to tenants generating additional income and offers packaging and moving supplies for purchase at the facility by tenants and non-tenants with an online store on the Infinity Storage website servicing buyers from all over the country.
Clearly, there is still much room for growth in this industry and we intend to actively and aggressively participate in that growth curve.
