Best areas to open builders merchant in South East
25 South East local authorities ranked by the Gera Business Location Score — real rent, wages, rates and market density.
Where is the best place to open a builders merchant in South East?
In South East, the best area to open a builders merchant is Chichester, with a Gera Business Location Score of 69.2/100: premises at £58/m²/yr and local median pay £28,547. Reigate and Banstead ranks lowest of 25 South East authorities at 26/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South East area for builders merchant: Chichester.
How this is calculatedSouth East ranked for builders merchant
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chichester | 69.2/100 | £58 | £28,547 | £2,506 |
| 2 | Isle of Wight | 63.6/100 | £43 | £26,185 | £1,858 |
| 3 | Wealden | 61.8/100 | £88 | £27,639 | £3,802 |
| 4 | New Forest | 56.5/100 | £79 | £30,071 | £3,413 |
| 5 | Arun | 54.3/100 | £79 | £27,461 | £3,413 |
| 6 | Buckinghamshire | 54/100 | £88 | £33,367 | £3,802 |
| 7 | Canterbury | 53.7/100 | £69 | £29,337 | £2,981 |
| 8 | Mid Sussex | 51.8/100 | £83 | £31,401 | £3,586 |
| 9 | Test Valley | 50.5/100 | £101 | £33,566 | £4,363 |
| 10 | West Berkshire | 49.7/100 | £99 | £35,806 | £4,277 |
| 11 | Tunbridge Wells | 49/100 | £105 | £30,296 | £4,536 |
| 12 | Ashford | 48.1/100 | £106 | £29,118 | £4,579 |
| 13 | Winchester | 47.8/100 | £85 | £34,568 | £3,672 |
| 14 | Dover | 47.2/100 | £64 | £31,547 | £2,765 |
| 15 | Eastleigh | 45.2/100 | £89 | £35,362 | £3,845 |
| 16 | Milton Keynes | 44.8/100 | £97 | £36,521 | £4,190 |
| 17 | Portsmouth | 44.6/100 | £68 | £33,015 | £2,938 |
| 18 | Waverley | 44.1/100 | £108 | £31,083 | £4,666 |
| 19 | Medway | 41/100 | £90 | £30,784 | £3,888 |
| 20 | South Oxfordshire | 40.6/100 | £100 | £36,315 | £4,320 |
| 21 | Brighton and Hove | 36.9/100 | £96 | £33,649 | £4,147 |
| 22 | Southampton | 36.5/100 | £87 | £33,878 | £3,758 |
| 23 | Gravesham | 33.8/100 | £99 | £34,455 | £4,277 |
| 24 | Mole Valley | 26.6/100 | £150 | £39,893 | £6,480 |
| 25 | Reigate and Banstead | 26/100 | £117 | £39,073 | £5,054 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for builders merchant premises in South East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South East is £43/m²/yr in Isle of Wight. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Chichester ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for builders merchant in Chichester?
- For a 100 m² unit in Chichester, business rates are roughly £2,506/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £5,800/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a builders merchant in South East?
Set up your UK GDPR and EU AI Act compliance from day one with a fixed-scope GeraCompliance sprint.
Contains public sector information published by Valuation Office Agency and Office for National Statistics and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: VOA Business Floorspace + ONS Business Counts + ONS ASHE (work geography) + ONS population estimates (2025 (VOA 31 March 2025; ASHE 2025 provisional; Business Counts 2025; population mid-2024), published December 2025).