Best areas to open convenience store in London
32 London local authorities ranked by the Gera Business Location Score — real rent, wages, rates and market density.
Where is the best place to open a convenience store in London?
In London, the best area to open a convenience store is Barnet, with a Gera Business Location Score of 59.2/100: premises at £130/m²/yr and local median pay £30,926. Westminster ranks lowest of 32 London authorities at 21/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
London ranked for convenience store
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barnet | 59.2/100 | £130 | £30,926 | £5,616 |
| 2 | Bexley | 55.9/100 | £153 | £27,441 | £6,610 |
| 3 | Harrow | 53.6/100 | £163 | £32,208 | £7,042 |
| 4 | Croydon | 52.6/100 | £151 | £34,987 | £6,523 |
| 5 | Greenwich | 52.1/100 | £170 | £30,787 | £7,344 |
| 6 | Lewisham | 50.8/100 | £162 | £34,965 | £6,998 |
| 7 | Barking and Dagenham | 50.6/100 | £176 | £32,433 | £7,603 |
| 8 | Bromley | 50.5/100 | £173 | £33,520 | £7,474 |
| 9 | Sutton | 50.4/100 | £166 | £35,113 | £7,171 |
| 10 | Havering | 50.2/100 | £181 | £31,874 | £7,819 |
| 11 | Kingston upon Thames | 49.8/100 | £177 | £36,898 | £7,646 |
| 12 | Waltham Forest | 49.1/100 | £202 | £28,880 | £8,726 |
| 13 | Hounslow | 48.8/100 | £172 | £38,422 | £7,430 |
| 14 | Merton | 46.5/100 | £207 | £32,983 | £8,942 |
| 15 | Ealing | 45.6/100 | £214 | £33,592 | £9,245 |
| 16 | Brent | 45.3/100 | £220 | £32,335 | £9,504 |
| 17 | Richmond upon Thames | 45.3/100 | £212 | £35,263 | £9,158 |
| 18 | Haringey | 44.3/100 | £244 | £27,716 | £10,541 |
| 19 | Hillingdon | 43.9/100 | £210 | £37,941 | £9,072 |
| 20 | Redbridge | 41.9/100 | £260 | £28,125 | £11,232 |
| 21 | Newham | 40.8/100 | £228 | £39,117 | £9,850 |
| 22 | Wandsworth | 39.5/100 | £238 | £37,534 | £10,282 |
| 23 | Hammersmith and Fulham | 37.3/100 | £243 | £44,042 | £10,498 |
| 24 | Lambeth | 32.1/100 | £271 | £42,039 | £11,707 |
| 25 | Hackney | 31.8/100 | £308 | £37,736 | £13,306 |
| 26 | City of London | 31.5/100 | £393 | £67,064 | £16,978 |
| 27 | Southwark | 31.1/100 | £264 | £47,136 | £11,405 |
| 28 | Islington | 28.9/100 | £290 | £49,624 | £12,528 |
| 29 | Kensington and Chelsea | 28.8/100 | £352 | £38,541 | £15,206 |
| 30 | Camden | 21.9/100 | £366 | £48,822 | £15,811 |
| 31 | Tower Hamlets | 21.7/100 | £285 | £59,974 | £12,312 |
| 32 | Westminster | 21/100 | £404 | £49,973 | £17,453 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for convenience store premises in London?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in London is £130/m²/yr in Barnet. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Barnet ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for convenience store in Barnet?
- For a 100 m² unit in Barnet, business rates are roughly £5,616/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £13,000/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a convenience store in London?
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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).