Market report

The Aberdeenshire self storage market

A self storage market report for Aberdeenshire, with the finance we arrange across 1 storage catchment in the county.

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Storage catchments
£27.40/sq ft
Avg storage rate (UK)
74.5%
Avg occupancy (UK)
5%
Prime storage yield
Matt Lenzie
Written and reviewed by Matt Lenzie Founder & Principal Broker · 25 years arranging commercial property finance

Aberdeenshire sits within the Scotland self storage market. Aberdeenshire Council is the only Scottish council headquartered outside its own area, being based at Woodhill House in the city of Aberdeen. We arrange acquisition finance, commercial mortgages, bridging, development finance, mezzanine and term debt on storage facilities across the county, tracking 1 storage catchment, led by Aberdeen.

The market figures below are reported nationally or at regional level by the industry's research sources, attributed to each source, and used as context rather than a Aberdeenshire-specific measurement. The housing-transaction and planning data is genuinely local and sourced from HM Land Registry and council planning registers.

Storage catchments and operators across Aberdeenshire

Storage demand concentrates along the A90, A96, A92 and AWPR corridors, where road access and passing visibility drive enquiries.

Rates, occupancy and yields

Nationally there are 3,143 self storage stores offering 67.5m sq ft of lettable space (SSA UK / Cushman & Wakefield Annual Industry Report, 2026 report), with average occupancy of 74.5% across all stores and 79.6% for mature stores. Average revenue runs at about £27.40/sq ft (UK average, SSA UK / Cushman & Wakefield, 2026 report), and prime self storage yields sit around 5% (Savills, European Self Storage Spotlight, Q4 2025).

Capital values: what storage facilities sell for

What do trading stores actually sell for? The best public evidence comes from the listed operators' external valuations. Big Yellow's London and commuter-town weighted portfolio was valued at £458/sq ft of lettable area and its smaller-format regional Armadillo stores at £185/sq ft (Big Yellow FY2026 results (JLL-valued), Mar 2026), with Safestore's UK estate at about ~£364/sq ft on a derived basis (Safestore FY2025 results (Cushman & Wakefield-valued), Oct 2025). The evidenced span from regional secondary to prime London and the South East runs at roughly £185 to £460/sq ft. These are going-concern values for trading businesses, not vacant-possession property values, and no source publishes a finer regional split, so we treat them as tier benchmarks when appraising a Aberdeenshire store.

Storage demand signals in Aberdeenshire

76% of UK storage demand comes from domestic customers (SSA UK, 2026 report).

Self storage finance in Aberdeenshire

We arrange the full lifecycle of self storage finance across Aberdeenshire: acquisition finance and commercial mortgages for trading stores, bridging for sites and auctions, development and mezzanine finance for builds and conversions, and term debt for the long-term hold. Send us the deal and we will come back within one working day.

Self storage market figures are published nationally or at Scotland level (SSA UK / Cushman & Wakefield annual reports; Savills yield research) and are presented as context for Aberdeenshire rather than a county-specific measurement. Housing-transaction figures are HM Land Registry price paid data for the towns we track.

By town

Self storage finance by town in Aberdeenshire

Each town carries its own catchment profile, demand signals and market context.

Facility types

Storage facility types we fund across Aberdeenshire

Every format is underwritten differently. We know which lenders back each one.

Funding a storage facility in Aberdeenshire?

Send us the outline and we will come back with a view on fundability and likely terms.