Best UK areas to open car showroom
284 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 car showroom in 2026?
The best UK area to open a car showroom is Powys (Wales), with a Gera Business Location Score of 92.9/100: premises at £45/m²/yr and local median pay of £26,839. Westminster ranks lowest at 10/100. Ranked across 284 local authorities from 2025 government open data; re-dated annually.
Top 10 areas for car showroom
| # | Local authority | Region | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Powys | Wales | 92.9/100 | £45 | £26,839 | £1,944 |
| 2 | Boston | East Midlands | 92.3/100 | £76 | £26,187 | £3,283 |
| 3 | Mid Devon | South West | 91/100 | £65 | £29,224 | £2,808 |
| 4 | North Devon | South West | 91/100 | £64 | £27,526 | £2,765 |
| 5 | South Holland | East Midlands | 90.6/100 | £52 | £27,809 | £2,246 |
| 6 | North Lincolnshire | Yorkshire and The Humber | 90.1/100 | £48 | £29,973 | £2,074 |
| 7 | Forest of Dean | South West | 90/100 | £70 | £25,387 | £3,024 |
| 8 | Teignbridge | South West | 89.5/100 | £80 | £28,636 | £3,456 |
| 9 | Ceredigion | Wales | 89.4/100 | £56 | £27,868 | £2,419 |
| 10 | East Lindsey | East Midlands | 88.1/100 | £50 | £26,724 | £2,160 |
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 car showroom within £2,000/month
- 1PowysWalesGBLS 92.9≈ £430/mo
- 2BostonEast MidlandsGBLS 92.3≈ £726/mo
- 3Mid DevonSouth WestGBLS 91≈ £621/mo
- 4North DevonSouth WestGBLS 91≈ £611/mo
- 5South HollandEast MidlandsGBLS 90.6≈ £496/mo
- 6North LincolnshireYorkshire and The HumberGBLS 90.1≈ £458/mo
- 7Forest of DeanSouth WestGBLS 90≈ £668/mo
- 8TeignbridgeSouth WestGBLS 89.5≈ £764/mo
- 9CeredigionWalesGBLS 89.4≈ £535/mo
- 10East LindseyEast MidlandsGBLS 88.1≈ £477/mo
- 11Malvern HillsWest MidlandsGBLS 87.9≈ £726/mo
- 12Staffordshire MoorlandsWest MidlandsGBLS 87.7≈ £516/mo
- 13FenlandEastGBLS 87.7≈ £697/mo
- 14Herefordshire, County ofWest MidlandsGBLS 87.5≈ £764/mo
- 15North NorfolkEastGBLS 87.5≈ £554/mo
Car showroom by region
Frequently asked questions
- Where is the cheapest place to open a car showroom in the UK?
- By premises cost alone, the lowest VOA rateable value among the 284 ranked areas is £27/m²/yr in Burnley. But the Gera Business Location Score also weighs local wages and market demand: on the combined score, Powys ranks #1 at 92.9/100.
- How much is rent and business rates for car showroom premises in Powys?
- In Powys, the VOA rateable value for this property type is £45 per m² per year. For a 100 m² unit that is about £4,500/yr rent, plus roughly £1,944/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).