Best areas to open commercial garage in South East
29 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 commercial transport garage in South East?
In South East, the best area to open a commercial transport garage is Chichester, with a Gera Business Location Score of 85.8/100: premises at £51/m²/yr and local median pay £28,547. Oxford ranks lowest of 29 South East authorities at 48.8/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South East area for commercial garage: Chichester.
How this is calculatedSouth East ranked for commercial garage
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chichester | 85.8/100 | £51 | £28,547 | £2,203 |
| 2 | Rother | 83.4/100 | £58 | £27,732 | £2,506 |
| 3 | Sevenoaks | 81.5/100 | £55 | £28,537 | £2,376 |
| 4 | Cherwell | 80.4/100 | £65 | £33,207 | £2,808 |
| 5 | East Hampshire | 79.4/100 | £82 | £30,143 | £3,542 |
| 6 | Tandridge | 78.9/100 | £82 | £29,925 | £3,542 |
| 7 | West Berkshire | 78.6/100 | £60 | £35,806 | £2,592 |
| 8 | Hart | 78.4/100 | £64 | £30,973 | £2,765 |
| 9 | Ashford | 77.8/100 | £61 | £29,118 | £2,635 |
| 10 | Swale | 76.6/100 | £55 | £29,831 | £2,376 |
| 11 | Buckinghamshire | 76.1/100 | £73 | £33,367 | £3,154 |
| 12 | Dover | 75/100 | £43 | £31,547 | £1,858 |
| 13 | Tonbridge and Malling | 74.5/100 | £76 | £31,472 | £3,283 |
| 14 | Eastbourne | 73.7/100 | £66 | £26,893 | £2,851 |
| 15 | Spelthorne | 73.1/100 | £99 | £32,237 | £4,277 |
| 16 | Lewes | 72.3/100 | £65 | £32,287 | £2,808 |
| 17 | Hastings | 71.3/100 | £50 | £29,383 | £2,160 |
| 18 | Canterbury | 71.2/100 | £72 | £29,337 | £3,110 |
| 19 | Thanet | 71.2/100 | £50 | £27,076 | £2,160 |
| 20 | Folkestone and Hythe | 70.4/100 | £57 | £31,907 | £2,462 |
| 21 | Medway | 70.2/100 | £67 | £30,784 | £2,894 |
| 22 | Milton Keynes | 69.7/100 | £61 | £36,521 | £2,635 |
| 23 | Mid Sussex | 69.4/100 | £83 | £31,401 | £3,586 |
| 24 | Mole Valley | 68.4/100 | £103 | £39,893 | £4,450 |
| 25 | Reigate and Banstead | 66/100 | £48 | £39,073 | £2,074 |
| 26 | Bracknell Forest | 64.3/100 | £90 | £37,063 | £3,888 |
| 27 | Reading | 60.8/100 | £72 | £44,956 | £3,110 |
| 28 | Brighton and Hove | 54/100 | £120 | £33,649 | £5,184 |
| 29 | Oxford | 48.8/100 | £121 | £38,779 | £5,227 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for commercial garage premises in South East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South East is £43/m²/yr in Dover. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Chichester ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for commercial garage in Chichester?
- For a 100 m² unit in Chichester, business rates are roughly £2,203/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £5,100/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
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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).