Growing consumer awareness of the self-storage sector helped Big Yellow (BYG) to push occupancy rates ahead from 73.5 per cent to 77.3 per cent in the six months to September. That same demand helped to push like-for-like rents up by 4 per cent to £25.79 per sq ft.
And while the self-storage group remains committed to improving occupancy rates still further, it also moved to increase its presence in the prosperous south east of England, acquiring two prime London sites at King's Cross and Camberwell. Together with recent openings and further sites due to open, capacity is expected to increase by up to 520,000 sq ft. Adjusted net asset value grew by 5 per cent to 536.4p from the March year-end, boosted by a £35.4m valuation uplift on the portfolio.