A Pipeline of OVER 250 self-storage sites..
According to the Self Storage Association of Australasia (SSAA), Australia (and New Zealand combined) currently operates nearly 2,300 self‑storage facilities (casually), with more than 250 slated for completion in the next few years.. Wild growth expected!
Major investment vehicles are coming in like Tokyo Drift here, like Storage Investments Australia for example, are planning to kindly but aggressively scale: SIA closed a AU$40 million fund to expand on the east coast and aims to raise its assets to AU$1 billion, adding several new facilities. Similarly, BlackRock has backed StoreLocal with a mini AU$2 billion rollout plan..
🏠 Meanwhile... housing affordability in crisis
This ridiculous exuberance comes at a time when housing affordability is worsening dramatically & frighteningly across Australia:
The median house price in Australia rose from 4.9× disposable income in 2002 to 8.6× in early 2024. Pushing aspiring buyers into renter status for a long time to come.
Population grew by around 552,000 in FY24, double the long-run average in a long time in Australia but housing construction hasn’t kept up, fueling massive rental & housing shortages across the east coast especially.
Rental vacancies are at record lows (~1.4%) despite falling slightly, traditional buyers are squeezed, leading to sustained rental pressure & insane prices that are outgrowing the average income.
The housing emergency is real & on-going: many Australians now face decade-long wait times to save a deposit (with some resigning to the fact they will NEVER buy in Australia), increased supplies has reduced our building industry Australia wide, and rising homelessness is becoming frightening.
🧩 Why this mismatch feels absurd
Competition for scarce land and/or any resources
Every extra self-storage facility development uses up urban land, pushing out potential housing or infill projects. When local councils grant approvals to dozens of storage facilities instead of medium or high-density housing, it deepens the housing shortfall. Increasing the demand & pushing the prices of homes higher and higher.
Investor incentives skewed (its nice..)
Investors find self-storage super appealing: high yields, stable (continued) cash flows, and very low maintenance, especially compared to risky development and slow returns in residential construction at the moment. If you are wanting to jump into something for investment.. even Shift Your Storage recommends!
Social consequences
Building more storage units, garages, lockers, facilities - doesn’t help families who can’t find homes, to rent or buy! It deepens inequality, steering public and private capital away from affordable housing and worsening Australia’s socio-economic divide.
⚠️ The way forward
Australia urgently needs policy recalibration:
Redirect capital toward residential construction, especially affordable housing projects for the growing population.
Regulate land use to prioritize homes rather than low-density storage facilities.
Incentivize developers to build real housing! Not just profitable storage units.
Until that happens and it doesn't seem to be the priority, it will look ludicrous around this spatial country: millions squeezed out of homeownership, while valuable land is consumed by facilities storing boxes, old furniture & forgotten goods?
The contrast couldn’t be sharper: as households struggle to afford or even enter homes, private equity pours into buildings that hoard empty space for unloved and forgotten items. Without urgent intervention, zoning reform, capital redirection, and public housing. Australia risks entrenching both its housing crisis and its misplaced development logic. Which does not sit with the "Aussie Dream" of having a backyard for the kids & grandkids.