Best areas to open cafe in South East
64 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 cafe or coffee shop in South East?
In South East, the best area to open a cafe or coffee shop is Thanet, with a Gera Business Location Score of 65.2/100: premises at £72/m²/yr and local median pay £27,076. Dartford ranks lowest of 64 South East authorities at 23.1/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
South East ranked for cafe
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thanet | 65.2/100 | £72 | £27,076 | £3,110 |
| 2 | Isle of Wight | 64.9/100 | £86 | £26,185 | £3,715 |
| 3 | Adur | 64/100 | £66 | £28,238 | £2,851 |
| 4 | Rother | 63.3/100 | £92 | £27,732 | £3,974 |
| 5 | Wealden | 62.5/100 | £91 | £27,639 | £3,931 |
| 6 | Arun | 61.3/100 | £105 | £27,461 | £4,536 |
| 7 | Hastings | 61/100 | £102 | £29,383 | £4,406 |
| 8 | Swale | 60.3/100 | £100 | £29,831 | £4,320 |
| 9 | Folkestone and Hythe | 60.1/100 | £99 | £31,907 | £4,277 |
| 10 | Waverley | 60/100 | £98 | £31,083 | £4,234 |
| 11 | Gosport | 59.7/100 | £103 | £30,518 | £4,450 |
| 12 | Dover | 59.7/100 | £102 | £31,547 | £4,406 |
| 13 | Worthing | 59.7/100 | £116 | £29,044 | £5,011 |
| 14 | Havant | 59.6/100 | £103 | £30,573 | £4,450 |
| 15 | Gravesham | 59.4/100 | £83 | £34,455 | £3,586 |
| 16 | Mid Sussex | 59.3/100 | £102 | £31,401 | £4,406 |
| 17 | Eastbourne | 58.9/100 | £143 | £26,893 | £6,178 |
| 18 | East Hampshire | 58.2/100 | £122 | £30,143 | £5,270 |
| 19 | New Forest | 58.1/100 | £131 | £30,071 | £5,659 |
| 20 | Ashford | 57.9/100 | £134 | £29,118 | £5,789 |
| 21 | Chichester | 57.8/100 | £148 | £28,547 | £6,394 |
| 22 | Hart | 57.3/100 | £125 | £30,973 | £5,400 |
| 23 | Eastleigh | 56.7/100 | £106 | £35,362 | £4,579 |
| 24 | Cherwell | 56.5/100 | £125 | £33,207 | £5,400 |
| 25 | Medway | 56.3/100 | £139 | £30,784 | £6,005 |
| 26 | Fareham | 56.3/100 | £126 | £32,895 | £5,443 |
| 27 | Tunbridge Wells | 56.3/100 | £148 | £30,296 | £6,394 |
| 28 | Horsham | 56.3/100 | £133 | £32,334 | £5,746 |
| 29 | Portsmouth | 56.2/100 | £133 | £33,015 | £5,746 |
| 30 | Lewes | 56.2/100 | £137 | £32,287 | £5,918 |
| 31 | Tandridge | 55.9/100 | £153 | £29,925 | £6,610 |
| 32 | Rushmoor | 55.6/100 | £127 | £34,238 | £5,486 |
| 33 | Spelthorne | 55.6/100 | £140 | £32,237 | £6,048 |
| 34 | Maidstone | 55.4/100 | £143 | £31,986 | £6,178 |
| 35 | South Oxfordshire | 55.1/100 | £123 | £36,315 | £5,314 |
| 36 | Test Valley | 54.7/100 | £141 | £33,566 | £6,091 |
| 37 | Basingstoke and Deane | 54.3/100 | £131 | £35,492 | £5,659 |
| 38 | Buckinghamshire | 54.1/100 | £151 | £33,367 | £6,523 |
| 39 | Southampton | 53.9/100 | £150 | £33,878 | £6,480 |
| 40 | Canterbury | 53.5/100 | £189 | £29,337 | £8,165 |
| 41 | West Oxfordshire | 53.5/100 | £159 | £34,006 | £6,869 |
| 42 | Sevenoaks | 52.5/100 | £201 | £28,537 | £8,683 |
| 43 | Vale of White Horse | 52.1/100 | £145 | £38,134 | £6,264 |
| 44 | Epsom and Ewell | 51.9/100 | £176 | £33,824 | £7,603 |
| 45 | Mole Valley | 51.7/100 | £144 | £39,893 | £6,221 |
| 46 | West Berkshire | 51.3/100 | £172 | £35,806 | £7,430 |
| 47 | Reigate and Banstead | 51.1/100 | £151 | £39,073 | £6,523 |
| 48 | Crawley | 50.5/100 | £176 | £36,053 | £7,603 |
| 49 | Woking | 50.2/100 | £185 | £35,258 | £7,992 |
| 50 | Brighton and Hove | 49.8/100 | £211 | £33,649 | £9,115 |
| 51 | Runnymede | 49.5/100 | £166 | £40,000 | £7,171 |
| 52 | Windsor and Maidenhead | 49.2/100 | £206 | £34,570 | £8,899 |
| 53 | Tonbridge and Malling | 49.1/100 | £220 | £31,472 | £9,504 |
| 54 | Surrey Heath | 48.1/100 | £203 | £36,632 | £8,770 |
| 55 | Winchester | 47.6/100 | £224 | £34,568 | £9,677 |
| 56 | Bracknell Forest | 47.4/100 | £202 | £37,063 | £8,726 |
| 57 | Milton Keynes | 46.8/100 | £217 | £36,521 | £9,374 |
| 58 | Slough | 46.4/100 | £206 | £38,578 | £8,899 |
| 59 | Elmbridge | 46.4/100 | £264 | £30,000 | £11,405 |
| 60 | Oxford | 44.7/100 | £233 | £38,779 | £10,066 |
| 61 | Wokingham | 43.6/100 | £239 | £38,552 | £10,325 |
| 62 | Guildford | 40/100 | £287 | £38,027 | £12,398 |
| 63 | Reading | 39.1/100 | £257 | £44,956 | £11,102 |
| 64 | Dartford | 23.1/100 | £518 | £32,428 | £22,378 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for cafe premises in South East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South East is £66/m²/yr in Adur. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Thanet ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for cafe in Thanet?
- For a 100 m² unit in Thanet, business rates are roughly £3,110/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £7,200/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).