Best areas to open vehicle repair garage in South East
61 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 vehicle repair garage in South East?
In South East, the best area to open a vehicle repair garage is Rother, with a Gera Business Location Score of 82.8/100: premises at £47/m²/yr and local median pay £27,732. Oxford ranks lowest of 61 South East authorities at 46.5/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South East area for vehicle repair garage: Rother.
How this is calculatedSouth East ranked for vehicle repair garage
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rother | 82.8/100 | £47 | £27,732 | £2,030 |
| 2 | Wealden | 82.5/100 | £64 | £27,639 | £2,765 |
| 3 | Chichester | 79.9/100 | £71 | £28,547 | £3,067 |
| 4 | Cherwell | 79.6/100 | £52 | £33,207 | £2,246 |
| 5 | Winchester | 78/100 | £22 | £34,568 | £950 |
| 6 | New Forest | 77.9/100 | £64 | £30,071 | £2,765 |
| 7 | East Hampshire | 77.4/100 | £67 | £30,143 | £2,894 |
| 8 | Test Valley | 75.3/100 | £67 | £33,566 | £2,894 |
| 9 | Horsham | 75/100 | £76 | £32,334 | £3,283 |
| 10 | Isle of Wight | 74.8/100 | £47 | £26,185 | £2,030 |
| 11 | Tandridge | 74.8/100 | £78 | £29,925 | £3,370 |
| 12 | Arun | 74.5/100 | £66 | £27,461 | £2,851 |
| 13 | Surrey Heath | 74/100 | £55 | £36,632 | £2,376 |
| 14 | West Oxfordshire | 73.7/100 | £57 | £34,006 | £2,462 |
| 15 | Sevenoaks | 73.4/100 | £85 | £28,537 | £3,672 |
| 16 | Swale | 72.4/100 | £64 | £29,831 | £2,765 |
| 17 | Eastbourne | 72.3/100 | £55 | £26,893 | £2,376 |
| 18 | Buckinghamshire | 72/100 | £73 | £33,367 | £3,154 |
| 19 | Dover | 71.9/100 | £52 | £31,547 | £2,246 |
| 20 | West Berkshire | 71.7/100 | £81 | £35,806 | £3,499 |
| 21 | Ashford | 71.6/100 | £78 | £29,118 | £3,370 |
| 22 | Tunbridge Wells | 71.3/100 | £76 | £30,296 | £3,283 |
| 23 | Maidstone | 70.8/100 | £75 | £31,986 | £3,240 |
| 24 | Tonbridge and Malling | 70.5/100 | £74 | £31,472 | £3,197 |
| 25 | Fareham | 70.3/100 | £71 | £32,895 | £3,067 |
| 26 | Adur | 69.8/100 | £74 | £28,238 | £3,197 |
| 27 | Hart | 68.9/100 | £97 | £30,973 | £4,190 |
| 28 | South Oxfordshire | 68.9/100 | £59 | £36,315 | £2,549 |
| 29 | Hastings | 68.7/100 | £53 | £29,383 | £2,290 |
| 30 | Folkestone and Hythe | 68.5/100 | £53 | £31,907 | £2,290 |
| 31 | Thanet | 68.4/100 | £54 | £27,076 | £2,333 |
| 32 | Spelthorne | 68.2/100 | £91 | £32,237 | £3,931 |
| 33 | Lewes | 68/100 | £70 | £32,287 | £3,024 |
| 34 | Canterbury | 67.2/100 | £72 | £29,337 | £3,110 |
| 35 | Rushmoor | 67/100 | £72 | £34,238 | £3,110 |
| 36 | Milton Keynes | 66.7/100 | £61 | £36,521 | £2,635 |
| 37 | Eastleigh | 66.3/100 | £72 | £35,362 | £3,110 |
| 38 | Waverley | 66.3/100 | £85 | £31,083 | £3,672 |
| 39 | Havant | 65.5/100 | £76 | £30,573 | £3,283 |
| 40 | Dartford | 65.3/100 | £85 | £32,428 | £3,672 |
| 41 | Guildford | 65/100 | £69 | £38,027 | £2,981 |
| 42 | Mole Valley | 65/100 | £85 | £39,893 | £3,672 |
| 43 | Medway | 64.6/100 | £78 | £30,784 | £3,370 |
| 44 | Mid Sussex | 64.5/100 | £83 | £31,401 | £3,586 |
| 45 | Southampton | 64.2/100 | £56 | £33,878 | £2,419 |
| 46 | Portsmouth | 62.7/100 | £74 | £33,015 | £3,197 |
| 47 | Basingstoke and Deane | 62.4/100 | £70 | £35,492 | £3,024 |
| 48 | Gravesham | 62.4/100 | £87 | £34,455 | £3,758 |
| 49 | Vale of White Horse | 61.9/100 | £74 | £38,134 | £3,197 |
| 50 | Worthing | 61.7/100 | £71 | £29,044 | £3,067 |
| 51 | Runnymede | 61.5/100 | £117 | £40,000 | £5,054 |
| 52 | Elmbridge | 60.6/100 | £86 | £30,000 | £3,715 |
| 53 | Reigate and Banstead | 60.4/100 | £68 | £39,073 | £2,938 |
| 54 | Wokingham | 60.2/100 | £88 | £38,552 | £3,802 |
| 55 | Windsor and Maidenhead | 58.6/100 | £112 | £34,570 | £4,838 |
| 56 | Woking | 58.4/100 | £97 | £35,258 | £4,190 |
| 57 | Crawley | 57/100 | £100 | £36,053 | £4,320 |
| 58 | Slough | 56.3/100 | £132 | £38,578 | £5,702 |
| 59 | Reading | 54.2/100 | £86 | £44,956 | £3,715 |
| 60 | Brighton and Hove | 50.4/100 | £95 | £33,649 | £4,104 |
| 61 | Oxford | 46.5/100 | £89 | £38,779 | £3,845 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for vehicle repair garage premises in South East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South East is £22/m²/yr in Winchester. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Rother ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for vehicle repair garage in Rother?
- For a 100 m² unit in Rother, business rates are roughly £2,030/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £4,700/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).