Storage and the retail prices index – exclusive news from storage.co.uk

In an indication of the increasing economic significance of the self storage industry, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) now includes a measure of self storage prices in both its Retail Price Index (RPI) and Consumer Prices Index (CPI).

Using Freedom of Information legislation, Storage.co.uk have discovered that in the five years since 2005, when storage prices were first included,  charges have risen by about 20%. Storage charges make up a small part of the index at only one part in a thousand (ie 0.1%) of the whole of each price index.

On a very rough measure this means that the Office of National Statistics is assuming the total annual expenditure on self storage is of the order of about £700 million. This figure for what 1/1000^th of the index amounts to is confirmed by Philip Goodings in his excellent ONS article on Consumer prices and the 2009 basket of goods and services.  It is apparent that self storage is one of about 650 different items which are measured on a monthly basis.

Storage is included in the government figures as part of their category, “Domestic services” and within the government’s price indices there has been a steady increase over the last 20 years in the proportion of household expenditure which goes on domestic items.

Storage.co.uk have obtained the monthly figures for measurements of self storage which make up part of the CPI.  The pattern revealed suggests that prices increased by about 3% in 2005 and 2006 whilst in 2007 the increase accelerated to 5% but in 2008 prices were flat.  There was a further  measured increase of 5% in 2009.

The Office of National Statistics warns that because the figures are only collected as part of a larger sample they should be treated with caution and are not separately published, but it does confirm the view that prices have at least kept up with inflation and surplus capacity in the industry is not yet resulting in falling prices.

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