U-Haul storage: the 12-month rate lock, and what it is worth
U-Haul guarantees your base rent for the first 12 full months at its owned and managed locations. At the big storage REITs the advertised rate is an entry price that gets reviewed after you move in, so the lock changes the lifetime cost rather than the headline. U-Haul also charges no administrative fee or move-in deposit at those locations, and does not make you buy its own cover. Below: exactly what the lock covers, what it does not, and how to compare a U-Haul quote fairly.
The lock, in U-Haul's words
What is locked
Base rent
"Your storage rent will remain the same for the first 12 full months from the day you move-in."
Where
Owned and managed
The lock applies at U-Haul owned-and-managed locations, not independent storage affiliates.
Who qualifies
New units
New customers, or additional units rented by existing customers.
After 12 months
30 days' notice
Any increase is preceded by email and letter notification 30 days in advance.
The lock is on base rent only. U-Haul's price-lock page says it “does not apply to optional add-ons like SafeStor® tenant insurance or late-payment fees.” Paying month to month does not void it, and it starts on your contract start date.
Sources: U-Haul, 1-Year Price Lock and U-Haul Self-Storage FAQ, checked October 2026.
Why the lock matters: what the other chains disclose
Public Storage's FY2025 10-K says it typically increases rates to long-term tenants, generally those with it at least five months, every six to twelve months. Extra Space's says existing tenants generally receive rate increases at least annually. Either way, a first-year rent at those chains is not one number, and the move-in rate is usually where it starts. (See Public Storage cost and Extra Space cost for the filings.)
At a U-Haul owned or managed location the first twelve months are one number. That makes the lock most valuable when you know you will store for most of a year or more. For a one- or two-month bridge between homes it matters little, and the comparison is simply the quoted rate plus anything compulsory on top.
What the lock does not do is keep U-Haul's prices flat across its business. U-Haul Holding Company's 10-K for the year to 31 March 2026 attributes its storage revenue growth partly to “a 5% improvement in average revenue per occupied foot”. Expect year two to be priced afresh, with 30 days' notice.
A fair 12-month comparison
- Get the U-Haul rate from the location's own page; U-Haul says the online price is the price you get at the store.
- Get a written quote for the same size from one or two other stores, and ask each for the rate after any introductory offer and when the first increase usually lands.
- Add anything compulsory on day one at each: administrative fee, cover, lock. U-Haul owned and managed locations charge no admin fee or deposit.
- Total twelve months at each. That total, not the first month, is the comparison.
Cover, fees and the truck promotion
Cover. U-Haul's FAQ says it does not require you to buy its Safestor cover and that you can choose to self-insure, but it also says proof of insurance is required to rent storage, and asks you to bring proof of your homeowners or renters cover at move-in if that is what you will rely on. Read it as: the in-house plan is optional, being covered is expected. Safestor rates start at $8.95 per month for $1,000 of coverage, per the same FAQ (checked October 2026). Check that your own policy extends to goods stored away from home.
Fees. U-Haul owned and managed locations do not charge an administrative fee, setup fee or move-in deposit; your first month's rent is what is due when you sign. Late fees vary by location. Storage affiliates may not follow the same policy. U-Haul requires a round discus-style lock but does not require you to buy it from U-Haul.
Truck promotion. The FAQ lists one month of free storage for all one-way equipment rentals at participating locations. If you are booking a one-way move anyway, ask the destination store whether it takes part.
What U-Haul's 10-K says about its storage business
U-Haul Holding Company (NYSE: UHAL) files annual reports with the SEC for fiscal years ending 31 March. Its 10-K for fiscal 2026 says it operates 2,113 self-storage locations in the United States and Canada, with nearly 1,136,000 rentable storage units comprising 99.0 million square feet, in 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. Units range from 6 square feet to over 1,000.
The same filing reports, for its company-owned storage locations, average monthly occupancy based on unit count of 74.4% in fiscal 2026, down from 79.2% a year earlier, as it added about 5.3 million net rentable square feet of new storage. A chain adding space faster than it fills it has a reason to compete on terms like the price lock and no admin fee, and it is worth asking a newer U-Haul store whether it has any move-in offer.
U-Haul does not publish a rent per square foot comparable to the figures the storage REITs file, so this page does not set its rents against theirs.
Source: U-Haul Holding Company Form 10-K, fiscal year ended 31 March 2026, SEC EDGAR, checked October 2026.