Stuck in Homes That No Longer Fit – Can Storage Providers Help?

How many of us are stuck in a home that isn’t fit for purpose? Downstairs is, quite frankly, not big enough to swing a cat in; we have no room for a home office, and the kids are scrapping over the top bunk in their shared bedroom.

There are many reasons behind this.

Brits are moving far less often than previous generations. Government research shows that housing mobility has declined steadily since the early 1990s. This is not due to a lack of desire to move. Many UK residents would love a bigger space. The problem is that moving up the housing ladder has become increasingly difficult to afford.

The traditional idea of buying your first home, building equity and then moving into something bigger as your circumstances change is becoming harder to achieve. Someone might buy a flat or a small house in their twenties with the intention of moving up the ladder when they have children, need more space or simply want a bigger home. But when the time comes, the jump to the next property can be financially out of reach.

One reason is that house prices have risen much faster than earnings over the long term. In 1997, the average home in England and Wales cost around three to four times the average salary. The average house price was £272,000 in June 2026, and the median gross annual earnings for full-time employees was £39,039 (according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS)). This means house prices are currently seven times the average full-time salary. Yet the ONS uses five times earnings as its general affordability threshold.

Many Brits are simply priced out of moving. Cost of living is through the roof right now, making saving for the deposit a challenge. Many cannot afford the current high interest rates and fear the increase in bills. Moving itself isn’t cheap either. Stamp duty, legal fees, surveys, removals and the cost of furnishing a new property all add to the money required to make the move.

Renters face problems too. The average let agreed price in year-to-date 2026 is £1,488pcm, making it harder for many households to build a deposit while covering their existing housing costs. Meanwhile, those who own a flat are struggling to sell. In 2026, we found that the likelihood of a flat selling is just 41.2%. Eye-wateringly high service charges, building safety issues and leasehold complications are putting off would-be buyers. Flat owners are left with properties they can’t shift due to the mistrust that surrounds them.

All of this combined leads to a country stuck in housing that it’s outgrown.

An opportunity for storage providers

Life doesn’t stand still just because someone’s housing situation does. Belongings accumulate over the years and children arrive with an ever-growing collection of toys, games and clothes. Before long, cupboards are bursting, wardrobes are overflowing and a desk squeezed in a corner of a room becomes the only way to work from home.

It’s a problem with real potential for storage providers. According to the Self Storage Association UK’s 2026 Annual Industry Report, 27% of self-storage customers say they use storage because they don’t have enough space at home. This is an audience you should be tapping into.

Help people reclaim their homes

The wider opportunity, though, isn’t just for people who are stuck in smaller properties. Moving home itself creates plenty of demand for extra space. With our homemover data, you can target not only those who are moving home and need to declutter, but also those between properties who need storage space.

MoverAlerts can help storage providers reach these audiences through targeted homemover marketing campaigns, using data to connect with households at different stages of the property journey. That includes people preparing to move, those progressing through a sale or purchase and homeowners whose plans have been disrupted by a withdrawal or fall-through that end up stuck in their current property.

For storage providers, the opportunity is to position self-storage as a practical way to ease the pressure. Target homeowners that are trapped – give them tips on how to make more space without moving.

Furl’s Britain’s Clutter Report 2026 found:

• 51% feel stressed by clutter
• 41% feel embarrassed about the state of their home
• 30% admit to judging friends or family when their homes look messy or disorganised.

Decluttering is the dream. It leaves people with an organised home they can relax, work and spend time in. It also has benefits to mental health and wellbeing, improving mood and focus. Space is precious for the homeowner who is trapped in a small property and self-storage is a relatively low-commitment way to relieve space pressure.

Final thoughts

The UK has always worked on the principle of buying a first home, then as your life moves on, you start thinking about having children, or you have the desire to second-step. Many people have done the traditional “right thing” and bought a smaller property or a flat to build equity, with the long-term view to move up the ladder and into their ‘forever home’. With the economy the way it is, they’re now trapped in their starter home and fast running out of space.

This presents a huge opportunity for the savvy self-storage business. Help relieve some of the stress on these homeowners and free up some of their property’s space.

If you need support on marketing to the homeowner and homemover audience, get in touch. We’d love to talk you through our solutions. Happy homeowners and increased occupancy for storage facilities: win-win.