Best UK areas to open community day centre
306 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 community day centre in 2026?
The best UK area to open a community day centre is Dacorum (East), with a Gera Business Location Score of 68.7/100: premises at £28/m²/yr and local median pay of £18,675. Westminster ranks lowest at 19.4/100. Ranked across 306 local authorities from 2025 government open data; re-dated annually.
Top 10 areas for community day centre
| # | Local authority | Region | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dacorum | East | 68.7/100 | £28 | £18,675 | £1,210 |
| 2 | Gwynedd | Wales | 67.5/100 | £25 | £25,217 | £1,080 |
| 3 | Conwy | Wales | 67/100 | £25 | £26,961 | £1,080 |
| 4 | Stockport | North West | 66.6/100 | £24 | £28,296 | £1,037 |
| 5 | Darlington | North East | 66.1/100 | £18 | £29,692 | £778 |
| 6 | Eastbourne | South East | 65.8/100 | £28 | £26,893 | £1,210 |
| 7 | Forest of Dean | South West | 65.8/100 | £23 | £25,387 | £994 |
| 8 | Staffordshire Moorlands | West Midlands | 65.4/100 | £24 | £26,204 | £1,037 |
| 9 | Bolton | North West | 65.3/100 | £26 | £27,696 | £1,123 |
| 10 | Rother | South East | 65.3/100 | £27 | £27,732 | £1,166 |
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 community day centre within £2,000/month
- 1DacorumEastGBLS 68.7≈ £267/mo
- 2GwyneddWalesGBLS 67.5≈ £239/mo
- 3ConwyWalesGBLS 67≈ £239/mo
- 4StockportNorth WestGBLS 66.6≈ £229/mo
- 5DarlingtonNorth EastGBLS 66.1≈ £172/mo
- 6EastbourneSouth EastGBLS 65.8≈ £267/mo
- 7Forest of DeanSouth WestGBLS 65.8≈ £220/mo
- 8Staffordshire MoorlandsWest MidlandsGBLS 65.4≈ £229/mo
- 9BoltonNorth WestGBLS 65.3≈ £248/mo
- 10RotherSouth EastGBLS 65.3≈ £258/mo
- 11MansfieldEast MidlandsGBLS 65.2≈ £248/mo
- 12MaldonEastGBLS 65.2≈ £229/mo
- 13CornwallSouth WestGBLS 65.2≈ £239/mo
- 14TraffordNorth WestGBLS 65≈ £258/mo
- 15HastingsSouth EastGBLS 65≈ £229/mo
Community day centre by region
Frequently asked questions
- Where is the cheapest place to open a community day centre in the UK?
- By premises cost alone, the lowest VOA rateable value among the 306 ranked areas is £18/m²/yr in Darlington. But the Gera Business Location Score also weighs local wages and market demand: on the combined score, Dacorum ranks #1 at 68.7/100.
- How much is rent and business rates for community day centre premises in Dacorum?
- In Dacorum, the VOA rateable value for this property type is £28 per m² per year. For a 100 m² unit that is about £2,800/yr rent, plus roughly £1,210/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).