Best areas to open drive-thru restaurant in South East
18 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 drive-thru restaurant in South East?
In South East, the best area to open a drive-thru restaurant is Thanet, with a Gera Business Location Score of 67.2/100: premises at £312/m²/yr and local median pay £27,076. Slough ranks lowest of 18 South East authorities at 10/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South East area for drive-thru restaurant: Thanet.
How this is calculatedSouth East ranked for drive-thru restaurant
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thanet | 67.2/100 | £312 | £27,076 | £13,478 |
| 2 | Chichester | 57.8/100 | £351 | £28,547 | £15,163 |
| 3 | Arun | 56.1/100 | £326 | £27,461 | £14,083 |
| 4 | Swale | 54/100 | £313 | £29,831 | £13,522 |
| 5 | Rushmoor | 53.8/100 | £287 | £34,238 | £12,398 |
| 6 | Tonbridge and Malling | 53.2/100 | £307 | £31,472 | £13,262 |
| 7 | Test Valley | 51.5/100 | £302 | £33,566 | £13,046 |
| 8 | Medway | 48.5/100 | £332 | £30,784 | £14,342 |
| 9 | Southampton | 46.1/100 | £339 | £33,878 | £14,645 |
| 10 | Portsmouth | 46/100 | £365 | £33,015 | £15,768 |
| 11 | Cherwell | 44.3/100 | £354 | £33,207 | £15,293 |
| 12 | Havant | 44/100 | £362 | £30,573 | £15,638 |
| 13 | Buckinghamshire | 41.4/100 | £367 | £33,367 | £15,854 |
| 14 | Vale of White Horse | 30.7/100 | £399 | £38,134 | £17,237 |
| 15 | Basingstoke and Deane | 29.6/100 | £400 | £35,492 | £17,280 |
| 16 | Milton Keynes | 28.2/100 | £424 | £36,521 | £18,317 |
| 17 | Reading | 20.6/100 | £425 | £44,956 | £18,360 |
| 18 | Slough | 10/100 | £499 | £38,578 | £21,557 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for drive-thru restaurant premises in South East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South East is £287/m²/yr in Rushmoor. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Thanet ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for drive-thru restaurant in Thanet?
- For a 100 m² unit in Thanet, business rates are roughly £13,478/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £31,200/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a drive-thru restaurant in South 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).