Storage solutions are needed by tenants for a few reasons and while overlooked, they can actually be great contributors to the overall experience a tenant has. For instance, tenants need storage when they move out of a property and they also need storage when they move in.

On top of this, they also may need storage if the apartment or house they are living in is particularly small and they have no other access to storage. As a result, a landlord could charge a tenant additional rent for external storage that is nearby and increase the rental yield of their portfolio.

This may be hard to manage yourself if you are a landlord. So, you may want to use a property agent to increase your rental yield instead.

Students

Students are often moving around and travelling a large distance and the accommodation that students have is often not the most spacious. As a result, it is difficult to have all of their furniture in the same place at once. Especially if they are moving to a property for a short period of time such as 8 months of the year where they are expected to live somewhere for a term at university.

This means that storage is often used but the students will typically not want to have storage that is too large so you could opt for box storage. Items that a student may use for storage include instruments, additional gear for their course, spare furniture or even suitcases.

If the storage solution a landlord offers is within a student budget, this may make sense to pay for as an additional expense to rent as something that makes a student’s life easier so they don’t have to worry about keeping their equipment safe.

‍

Those moving house

Moving house often requires you to have storage for the short term. Perhaps it is a few days or a few weeks where you are in between properties and a tenant may need to stay in a hotel. For instance, if you are becoming a landlord and you are moving tenants into your property you used to stay in, you could buy self storage to house your belongings while you move your tenant’s belongings in instead.

In addition, if you are a more experienced landlord moving tenants between properties you own, you may require a storage solution to simplify the process of moving so you don’t have to manage all of your belongings yourself and also ensure they are safe in the process of moving. 

It is common for tenants to move house within the same portfolio of properties of their landlord as there is already an element of trust built up and the landlord may not want to reference a new tenant. Perhaps the tenant wants to downsize or upsize or they cannot meet the demands for a rent increase. These are all valid reasons for the landlord moving the tenant to a different location.

Commercial tenants with a business

Excess inventory or equipment is common to have if you have a business. As a result, landlords who have tenants that are commercial tenants may be able to recommend business storage.

Especially if a landlord knows the storage solution is of the right budget or it is located nearby to the tenant, it can be an easy sell and a great addition to the costs that the tenant pays the landlord and it will contribute to the experience of a tenancy very well.

Another reason why this may be of use to a tenant if they are a commercial tenant is that businesses often face fluctuations in demand and seasonal variations. This means it’s common for businesses to have surplus stock. So, container storage which is ideal for businesses and customers who need regular access is perfect in this case. Particularly for tenants who want to spend money on stock at certain times of the year when stock is cheapest and the building they are living in is particularly small.

Moreover, storage solutions can be essential for businesses undergoing renovations or relocating to new premises. So, if you are a landlord and you know that you will be doing work to a property and you need to relocate tenants in this timeframe, offering a storage solution that is convenient to access and fits within the budget of the tenant could be a good idea.

Alternatively, you could reduce the rent during the period where renovations are taking place, so the tenant is able to free up some cash to pay for the storage solution they need. If you calculate rental yield afterwards, the yield would have gone down but in the long term you are taking care of your tenants and they are more likely to stay.