Best areas to open commercial garage in South West
22 South West 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 West?
In South West, the best area to open a commercial transport garage is Torridge, with a Gera Business Location Score of 91.6/100: premises at £25/m²/yr and local median pay £26,745. Bristol, City of ranks lowest of 22 South West authorities at 65.6/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South West area for commercial garage: Torridge.
How this is calculatedSouth West ranked for commercial garage
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Torridge | 91.6/100 | £25 | £26,745 | £1,080 |
| 2 | Mid Devon | 91/100 | £29 | £29,224 | £1,253 |
| 3 | North Devon | 89.8/100 | £41 | £27,526 | £1,771 |
| 4 | Forest of Dean | 88.9/100 | £45 | £25,387 | £1,944 |
| 5 | Teignbridge | 86.9/100 | £66 | £28,636 | £2,851 |
| 6 | West Devon | 84.9/100 | £39 | £28,161 | £1,685 |
| 7 | Somerset | 84.5/100 | £45 | £29,152 | £1,944 |
| 8 | Dorset | 83.2/100 | £51 | £29,292 | £2,203 |
| 9 | East Devon | 82.5/100 | £51 | £31,874 | £2,203 |
| 10 | Cornwall | 82.1/100 | £53 | £27,006 | £2,290 |
| 11 | Cotswold | 81.9/100 | £55 | £29,655 | £2,376 |
| 12 | North Somerset | 80.4/100 | £53 | £28,749 | £2,290 |
| 13 | South Hams | 79.4/100 | £74 | £28,329 | £3,197 |
| 14 | Wiltshire | 79.3/100 | £44 | £30,000 | £1,901 |
| 15 | Stroud | 79.3/100 | £30 | £32,495 | £1,296 |
| 16 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 73.8/100 | £75 | £31,121 | £3,240 |
| 17 | Torbay | 73.3/100 | £64 | £28,066 | £2,765 |
| 18 | Exeter | 72.4/100 | £73 | £30,138 | £3,154 |
| 19 | South Gloucestershire | 71.1/100 | £58 | £36,920 | £2,506 |
| 20 | Plymouth | 70.6/100 | £50 | £30,346 | £2,160 |
| 21 | Bath and North East Somerset | 67.5/100 | £80 | £32,004 | £3,456 |
| 22 | Bristol, City of | 65.6/100 | £52 | £36,652 | £2,246 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for commercial garage premises in South West?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South West is £25/m²/yr in Torridge. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Torridge ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for commercial garage in Torridge?
- For a 100 m² unit in Torridge, business rates are roughly £1,080/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £2,500/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a commercial transport garage in South West?
Set up your UK GDPR and EU AI Act compliance from day one with a fixed-scope GeraCompliance sprint.
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).