Best areas to open golf course in South East
32 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 golf course in South East?
In South East, the best area to open a golf course is Isle of Wight, with a Gera Business Location Score of 68.8/100: premises at £79/m²/yr and local median pay £26,185. Wokingham ranks lowest of 32 South East authorities at 22.1/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South East area for golf course: Isle of Wight.
How this is calculatedSouth East ranked for golf course
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isle of Wight | 68.8/100 | £79 | £26,185 | £3,413 |
| 2 | Brighton and Hove | 61.5/100 | £86 | £33,649 | £3,715 |
| 3 | Rother | 61/100 | £103 | £27,732 | £4,450 |
| 4 | Mid Sussex | 60.9/100 | £84 | £31,401 | £3,629 |
| 5 | New Forest | 60.8/100 | £97 | £30,071 | £4,190 |
| 6 | East Hampshire | 59.2/100 | £100 | £30,143 | £4,320 |
| 7 | Wealden | 57.5/100 | £119 | £27,639 | £5,141 |
| 8 | Lewes | 56.3/100 | £103 | £32,287 | £4,450 |
| 9 | Elmbridge | 56.3/100 | £140 | £30,000 | £6,048 |
| 10 | Tandridge | 54.9/100 | £127 | £29,925 | £5,486 |
| 11 | Sevenoaks | 54.1/100 | £126 | £28,537 | £5,443 |
| 12 | Waverley | 53.6/100 | £139 | £31,083 | £6,005 |
| 13 | Winchester | 53.4/100 | £100 | £34,568 | £4,320 |
| 14 | West Berkshire | 50.6/100 | £112 | £35,806 | £4,838 |
| 15 | Horsham | 50.5/100 | £119 | £32,334 | £5,141 |
| 16 | Hart | 49.7/100 | £116 | £30,973 | £5,011 |
| 17 | Buckinghamshire | 49.6/100 | £119 | £33,367 | £5,141 |
| 18 | Tonbridge and Malling | 49/100 | £110 | £31,472 | £4,752 |
| 19 | Test Valley | 46.3/100 | £108 | £33,566 | £4,666 |
| 20 | Vale of White Horse | 45.1/100 | £100 | £38,134 | £4,320 |
| 21 | Mole Valley | 42.2/100 | £132 | £39,893 | £5,702 |
| 22 | Windsor and Maidenhead | 41.9/100 | £151 | £34,570 | £6,523 |
| 23 | Cherwell | 39.4/100 | £135 | £33,207 | £5,832 |
| 24 | Basingstoke and Deane | 38.1/100 | £120 | £35,492 | £5,184 |
| 25 | Chichester | 36.4/100 | £197 | £28,547 | £8,510 |
| 26 | Woking | 33.8/100 | £154 | £35,258 | £6,653 |
| 27 | Reigate and Banstead | 33.7/100 | £133 | £39,073 | £5,746 |
| 28 | South Oxfordshire | 33.2/100 | £162 | £36,315 | £6,998 |
| 29 | Folkestone and Hythe | 30.7/100 | £165 | £31,907 | £7,128 |
| 30 | Guildford | 27.6/100 | £163 | £38,027 | £7,042 |
| 31 | Bracknell Forest | 23.1/100 | £161 | £37,063 | £6,955 |
| 32 | Wokingham | 22.1/100 | £160 | £38,552 | £6,912 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for golf course premises in South East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South East is £79/m²/yr in Isle of Wight. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Isle of Wight ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for golf course in Isle of Wight?
- For a 100 m² unit in Isle of Wight, business rates are roughly £3,413/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £7,900/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).