Best areas to open car showroom in East
39 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 car showroom in East?
In East, the best area to open a car showroom is Fenland, with a Gera Business Location Score of 87.7/100: premises at £73/m²/yr and local median pay £27,005. Cambridge ranks lowest of 39 East authorities at 50.9/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
East ranked for car showroom
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fenland | 87.7/100 | £73 | £27,005 | £3,154 |
| 2 | North Norfolk | 87.5/100 | £58 | £26,296 | £2,506 |
| 3 | Peterborough | 86.8/100 | £111 | £31,062 | £4,795 |
| 4 | Mid Suffolk | 86.7/100 | £86 | £32,413 | £3,715 |
| 5 | King's Lynn and West Norfolk | 86.1/100 | £85 | £30,544 | £3,672 |
| 6 | Breckland | 84.3/100 | £60 | £28,303 | £2,592 |
| 7 | Uttlesford | 82.8/100 | £94 | £32,124 | £4,061 |
| 8 | West Suffolk | 82/100 | £90 | £29,613 | £3,888 |
| 9 | Tendring | 81.7/100 | £108 | £27,067 | £4,666 |
| 10 | South Norfolk | 81.4/100 | £77 | £29,114 | £3,326 |
| 11 | Bedford | 80.8/100 | £104 | £33,148 | £4,493 |
| 12 | Huntingdonshire | 80.7/100 | £88 | £32,441 | £3,802 |
| 13 | East Cambridgeshire | 80.3/100 | £71 | £30,232 | £3,067 |
| 14 | Braintree | 79.3/100 | £112 | £32,175 | £4,838 |
| 15 | East Suffolk | 79.3/100 | £71 | £30,821 | £3,067 |
| 16 | Dacorum | 78.5/100 | £136 | £18,675 | £5,875 |
| 17 | Thurrock | 78/100 | £124 | £34,388 | £5,357 |
| 18 | Chelmsford | 77.2/100 | £120 | £32,010 | £5,184 |
| 19 | Great Yarmouth | 77.2/100 | £62 | £26,484 | £2,678 |
| 20 | Central Bedfordshire | 76.7/100 | £103 | £30,963 | £4,450 |
| 21 | Epping Forest | 76.6/100 | £140 | £30,038 | £6,048 |
| 22 | Norwich | 76.6/100 | £91 | £28,457 | £3,931 |
| 23 | Broadland | 76.1/100 | £108 | £32,576 | £4,666 |
| 24 | Ipswich | 75.3/100 | £138 | £30,605 | £5,962 |
| 25 | East Hertfordshire | 75.1/100 | £119 | £32,293 | £5,141 |
| 26 | Luton | 74.7/100 | £123 | £29,640 | £5,314 |
| 27 | North Hertfordshire | 74.1/100 | £140 | £33,409 | £6,048 |
| 28 | Colchester | 74/100 | £124 | £31,056 | £5,357 |
| 29 | Castle Point | 73.3/100 | £153 | £27,524 | £6,610 |
| 30 | Basildon | 72.6/100 | £129 | £32,050 | £5,573 |
| 31 | Harlow | 72.1/100 | £140 | £32,320 | £6,048 |
| 32 | Southend-on-Sea | 70.6/100 | £133 | £26,955 | £5,746 |
| 33 | Welwyn Hatfield | 69.3/100 | £137 | £39,794 | £5,918 |
| 34 | Watford | 68.9/100 | £161 | £31,833 | £6,955 |
| 35 | South Cambridgeshire | 65.8/100 | £108 | £41,348 | £4,666 |
| 36 | Hertsmere | 65.2/100 | £181 | £36,000 | £7,819 |
| 37 | St Albans | 62.5/100 | £166 | £33,468 | £7,171 |
| 38 | Stevenage | 60.9/100 | £174 | £41,224 | £7,517 |
| 39 | Cambridge | 50.9/100 | £145 | £40,266 | £6,264 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for car showroom premises in East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in East is £58/m²/yr in North Norfolk. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Fenland ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for car showroom in Fenland?
- For a 100 m² unit in Fenland, business rates are roughly £3,154/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £7,300/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a car showroom in East?
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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).