Rental boom is good news for Safestore as squeeze continues on house buyers

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Safestore chief executive Peter Gowers said: "The big change which has taken place in the housing market has led to a particularly buoyant rental sector, particularly in London. This benefits self-storage because rental occupiers tend to move every 18 months to two years, compared with owner-occupiers who move every seven years. Also, people are moving into smaller flats due to higher rental prices."

Safestore, which has 42 stores within the M25 and 131 in all, saw occupancy grow 9.1% in the year to October to a record 3.21 million square foot.

Around half of the firm's customers are businesses, with Gowers seeing particular growth from online retailers wanting to store goods and save on overheads. British Gas is also a major corporate customer, using the firm to store its smart meters.

Pre-tax profits were down 71% to £8.5 million from £29.2 million, although the falling value of its property portfolio accounted for this. Underlying profits rose 4.8% to £16.1 million. The firm will pay a final dividend of 3.55p.