Best areas to open light-industrial business unit in South East
42 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 light-industrial business unit in South East?
In South East, the best area to open a light-industrial business unit is Chichester, with a Gera Business Location Score of 73.6/100: premises at £95/m²/yr and local median pay £28,547. Crawley ranks lowest of 42 South East authorities at 45/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South East area for light-industrial business unit: Chichester.
How this is calculatedSouth East ranked for light-industrial business unit
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chichester | 73.6/100 | £95 | £28,547 | £4,104 |
| 2 | Adur | 73/100 | £82 | £28,238 | £3,542 |
| 3 | New Forest | 72.5/100 | £110 | £30,071 | £4,752 |
| 4 | Swale | 71.9/100 | £71 | £29,831 | £3,067 |
| 5 | East Hampshire | 71.1/100 | £97 | £30,143 | £4,190 |
| 6 | Horsham | 69.5/100 | £105 | £32,334 | £4,536 |
| 7 | Sevenoaks | 69.4/100 | £130 | £28,537 | £5,616 |
| 8 | Havant | 68.8/100 | £90 | £30,573 | £3,888 |
| 9 | Tandridge | 67.2/100 | £104 | £29,925 | £4,493 |
| 10 | Waverley | 67.1/100 | £95 | £31,083 | £4,104 |
| 11 | Elmbridge | 66.7/100 | £92 | £30,000 | £3,974 |
| 12 | Test Valley | 66.1/100 | £132 | £33,566 | £5,702 |
| 13 | Winchester | 65.4/100 | £103 | £34,568 | £4,450 |
| 14 | West Berkshire | 65.3/100 | £97 | £35,806 | £4,190 |
| 15 | Eastleigh | 64.5/100 | £109 | £35,362 | £4,709 |
| 16 | Buckinghamshire | 64.4/100 | £130 | £33,367 | £5,616 |
| 17 | Folkestone and Hythe | 64/100 | £96 | £31,907 | £4,147 |
| 18 | Maidstone | 64/100 | £121 | £31,986 | £5,227 |
| 19 | Medway | 63.8/100 | £105 | £30,784 | £4,536 |
| 20 | Southampton | 63.2/100 | £58 | £33,878 | £2,506 |
| 21 | Hastings | 63.2/100 | £126 | £29,383 | £5,443 |
| 22 | Rushmoor | 62.9/100 | £87 | £34,238 | £3,758 |
| 23 | Basingstoke and Deane | 62.2/100 | £81 | £35,492 | £3,499 |
| 24 | Fareham | 62/100 | £161 | £32,895 | £6,955 |
| 25 | Windsor and Maidenhead | 61.6/100 | £121 | £34,570 | £5,227 |
| 26 | Hart | 61.5/100 | £129 | £30,973 | £5,573 |
| 27 | Dartford | 61.3/100 | £128 | £32,428 | £5,530 |
| 28 | Milton Keynes | 60/100 | £102 | £36,521 | £4,406 |
| 29 | Runnymede | 59.5/100 | £71 | £40,000 | £3,067 |
| 30 | Mole Valley | 58.9/100 | £121 | £39,893 | £5,227 |
| 31 | Spelthorne | 58.5/100 | £160 | £32,237 | £6,912 |
| 32 | Reigate and Banstead | 58.4/100 | £90 | £39,073 | £3,888 |
| 33 | Woking | 58.3/100 | £132 | £35,258 | £5,702 |
| 34 | Surrey Heath | 58.1/100 | £146 | £36,632 | £6,307 |
| 35 | Guildford | 57.9/100 | £98 | £38,027 | £4,234 |
| 36 | Portsmouth | 57.6/100 | £141 | £33,015 | £6,091 |
| 37 | Brighton and Hove | 53/100 | £191 | £33,649 | £8,251 |
| 38 | Slough | 52.7/100 | £159 | £38,578 | £6,869 |
| 39 | Oxford | 51.5/100 | £121 | £38,779 | £5,227 |
| 40 | Reading | 51.3/100 | £101 | £44,956 | £4,363 |
| 41 | Wokingham | 49.3/100 | £215 | £38,552 | £9,288 |
| 42 | Crawley | 45/100 | £279 | £36,053 | £12,053 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for light-industrial business unit premises in South East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South East is £58/m²/yr in Southampton. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Chichester ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for light-industrial business unit in Chichester?
- For a 100 m² unit in Chichester, business rates are roughly £4,104/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £9,500/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
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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).