Best areas to open funeral home in South East
17 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 funeral home in South East?
In South East, the best area to open a funeral home is Thanet, with a Gera Business Location Score of 64.8/100: premises at £39/m²/yr and local median pay £27,076. Eastleigh ranks lowest of 17 South East authorities at 14.5/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
South East ranked for funeral home
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thanet | 64.8/100 | £39 | £27,076 | £1,685 |
| 2 | Canterbury | 58.9/100 | £44 | £29,337 | £1,901 |
| 3 | Wealden | 55.2/100 | £71 | £27,639 | £3,067 |
| 4 | Dover | 48.1/100 | £56 | £31,547 | £2,419 |
| 5 | Isle of Wight | 47.4/100 | £87 | £26,185 | £3,758 |
| 6 | West Oxfordshire | 47.3/100 | £74 | £34,006 | £3,197 |
| 7 | Tunbridge Wells | 44.5/100 | £87 | £30,296 | £3,758 |
| 8 | New Forest | 42.6/100 | £95 | £30,071 | £4,104 |
| 9 | Fareham | 36.6/100 | £94 | £32,895 | £4,061 |
| 10 | Medway | 35.2/100 | £85 | £30,784 | £3,672 |
| 11 | Tonbridge and Malling | 33.7/100 | £99 | £31,472 | £4,277 |
| 12 | Havant | 31.2/100 | £106 | £30,573 | £4,579 |
| 13 | Test Valley | 28.9/100 | £104 | £33,566 | £4,493 |
| 14 | Winchester | 27.5/100 | £119 | £34,568 | £5,141 |
| 15 | Basingstoke and Deane | 22.1/100 | £111 | £35,492 | £4,795 |
| 16 | Southampton | 16.9/100 | £119 | £33,878 | £5,141 |
| 17 | Eastleigh | 14.5/100 | £137 | £35,362 | £5,918 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for funeral home premises in South East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South East is £39/m²/yr in Thanet. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Thanet ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for funeral home in Thanet?
- For a 100 m² unit in Thanet, business rates are roughly £1,685/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £3,900/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a funeral home 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).