Best UK areas to open gym / fitness suite
275 local authorities ranked by the Gera Business Location Score — real commercial rent, local wages, business rates and market density.
Which UK areas are best for opening a gym or fitness studio in 2026?
The best UK area to open a gym or fitness studio is North East Lincolnshire (Yorkshire and The Humber), with a Gera Business Location Score of 66.2/100: premises at £14/m²/yr and local median pay of £26,631. Kensington and Chelsea ranks lowest at 20.1/100. Ranked across 275 local authorities from 2025 government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top area for gym / fitness suite: North East Lincolnshire.
How this is calculatedTop 10 areas for gym / fitness suite
| # | Local authority | Region | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North East Lincolnshire | Yorkshire and The Humber | 66.2/100 | £14 | £26,631 | £605 |
| 2 | Pembrokeshire / Sir Benfro | Wales | 65.6/100 | £27 | £26,535 | £1,166 |
| 3 | Gwynedd | Wales | 65.3/100 | £31 | £25,217 | £1,339 |
| 4 | Tameside | North West | 65/100 | £21 | £27,115 | £907 |
| 5 | Staffordshire Moorlands | West Midlands | 64.7/100 | £28 | £26,204 | £1,210 |
| 6 | Hyndburn | North West | 64.6/100 | £23 | £27,323 | £994 |
| 7 | Burnley | North West | 64.5/100 | £24 | £27,128 | £1,037 |
| 8 | South Tyneside | North East | 64.3/100 | £33 | £25,490 | £1,426 |
| 9 | Boston | East Midlands | 64.2/100 | £32 | £26,187 | £1,382 |
| 10 | Blackpool | North West | 63.9/100 | £30 | £27,064 | £1,296 |
Filter by your budget
Set a premises size and monthly budget to shortlist the areas that fit.
Budget covers estimated annual rent (VOA rateable value × floor area) plus the 2026-27 small-business rates bill (43.2p multiplier), spread over 12 months. Real reliefs (e.g. Small Business Rate Relief) can reduce the rates portion further.
Best areas to open a gym or fitness studio within £2,000/month
- 1North East LincolnshireYorkshire and The HumberGBLS 66.2≈ £134/mo
- 2Pembrokeshire / Sir BenfroWalesGBLS 65.6≈ £258/mo
- 3GwyneddWalesGBLS 65.3≈ £296/mo
- 4TamesideNorth WestGBLS 65≈ £200/mo
- 5Staffordshire MoorlandsWest MidlandsGBLS 64.7≈ £267/mo
- 6HyndburnNorth WestGBLS 64.6≈ £220/mo
- 7BurnleyNorth WestGBLS 64.5≈ £229/mo
- 8South TynesideNorth EastGBLS 64.3≈ £315/mo
- 9BostonEast MidlandsGBLS 64.2≈ £305/mo
- 10BlackpoolNorth WestGBLS 63.9≈ £286/mo
- 11SeftonNorth WestGBLS 63.9≈ £315/mo
- 12Redcar and ClevelandNorth EastGBLS 63.8≈ £239/mo
- 13Oadby and WigstonEast MidlandsGBLS 63.8≈ £449/mo
- 14Blaenau GwentWalesGBLS 63.8≈ £305/mo
- 15ConwyWalesGBLS 63.7≈ £344/mo
Gym / fitness suite by region
Frequently asked questions
- Where is the cheapest place to open a gym or fitness studio in the UK?
- By premises cost alone, the lowest VOA rateable value among the 275 ranked areas is £14/m²/yr in North East Lincolnshire. But the Gera Business Location Score also weighs local wages and market demand: on the combined score, North East Lincolnshire ranks #1 at 66.2/100.
- How much is rent and business rates for gym / fitness suite premises in North East Lincolnshire?
- In North East Lincolnshire, the VOA rateable value for this property type is £14 per m² per year. For a 100 m² unit that is about £1,400/yr rent, plus roughly £605/yr business rates at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p) — before any Small Business Rate Relief.
- What data is this based on?
- VOA Non-Domestic Rating Business Floorspace (rateable value per m², 31 March 2025), ONS UK Business Counts 2025 (market density), ONS ASHE 2025 (local wages) and ONS mid-2024 population — all Open Government Licence v3.0, joined on the ONS local-authority code.
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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).