Best UK areas to open light-industrial business unit
142 local authorities ranked by the Gera Business Location Score — real commercial rent, local wages, business rates and market density.
Which UK areas are best for opening a light-industrial business unit in 2026?
The best UK area to open a light-industrial business unit is South Hams (South West), with a Gera Business Location Score of 83.3/100: premises at £65/m²/yr and local median pay of £28,329. Tower Hamlets ranks lowest at 32.7/100. Ranked across 142 local authorities from 2025 government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top area for light-industrial business unit: South Hams.
How this is calculatedTop 10 areas for light-industrial business unit
| # | Local authority | Region | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Hams | South West | 83.3/100 | £65 | £28,329 | £2,808 |
| 2 | High Peak | East Midlands | 82.5/100 | £16 | £28,463 | £691 |
| 3 | Maldon | East | 79.7/100 | £78 | £25,496 | £3,370 |
| 4 | Newark and Sherwood | East Midlands | 77.5/100 | £47 | £26,911 | £2,030 |
| 5 | Bassetlaw | East Midlands | 76.6/100 | £64 | £26,888 | £2,765 |
| 6 | Babergh | East | 76.3/100 | £89 | £25,785 | £3,845 |
| 7 | Kirklees | Yorkshire and The Humber | 76.2/100 | £66 | £28,821 | £2,851 |
| 8 | Breckland | East | 75.2/100 | £69 | £28,303 | £2,981 |
| 9 | West Devon | South West | 74.6/100 | £73 | £28,161 | £3,154 |
| 10 | Rochford | East | 74.5/100 | £87 | £26,706 | £3,758 |
Filter by your budget
Set a premises size and monthly budget to shortlist the areas that fit.
Budget covers estimated annual rent (VOA rateable value × floor area) plus the 2026-27 small-business rates bill (43.2p multiplier), spread over 12 months. Real reliefs (e.g. Small Business Rate Relief) can reduce the rates portion further.
Best areas to open a light-industrial business unit within £2,000/month
- 1South HamsSouth WestGBLS 83.3≈ £621/mo
- 2High PeakEast MidlandsGBLS 82.5≈ £153/mo
- 3MaldonEastGBLS 79.7≈ £745/mo
- 4Newark and SherwoodEast MidlandsGBLS 77.5≈ £449/mo
- 5BassetlawEast MidlandsGBLS 76.6≈ £611/mo
- 6BaberghEastGBLS 76.3≈ £850/mo
- 7KirkleesYorkshire and The HumberGBLS 76.2≈ £630/mo
- 8BrecklandEastGBLS 75.2≈ £659/mo
- 9West DevonSouth WestGBLS 74.6≈ £697/mo
- 10RochfordEastGBLS 74.5≈ £831/mo
- 11North YorkshireYorkshire and The HumberGBLS 74.4≈ £735/mo
- 12SomersetSouth WestGBLS 74.1≈ £659/mo
- 13ChichesterSouth EastGBLS 73.6≈ £907/mo
- 14South NorfolkEastGBLS 73.4≈ £621/mo
- 15MansfieldEast MidlandsGBLS 73≈ £411/mo
Light-industrial business unit by region
Frequently asked questions
- Where is the cheapest place to open a light-industrial business unit in the UK?
- By premises cost alone, the lowest VOA rateable value among the 142 ranked areas is £16/m²/yr in High Peak. But the Gera Business Location Score also weighs local wages and market demand: on the combined score, South Hams ranks #1 at 83.3/100.
- How much is rent and business rates for light-industrial business unit premises in South Hams?
- In South Hams, the VOA rateable value for this property type is £65 per m² per year. For a 100 m² unit that is about £6,500/yr rent, plus roughly £2,808/yr business rates at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p) — before any Small Business Rate Relief.
- What data is this based on?
- VOA Non-Domestic Rating Business Floorspace (rateable value per m², 31 March 2025), ONS UK Business Counts 2025 (market density), ONS ASHE 2025 (local wages) and ONS mid-2024 population — all Open Government Licence v3.0, joined on the ONS local-authority code.
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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).