Best areas to open large distribution warehouse in South East
15 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 large distribution warehouse in South East?
In South East, the best area to open a large distribution warehouse is Medway, with a Gera Business Location Score of 49.4/100: premises at £70/m²/yr and local median pay £30,784. Reading ranks lowest of 15 South East authorities at 20.1/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South East area for large distribution warehouse: Medway.
How this is calculatedSouth East ranked for large distribution warehouse
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medway | 49.4/100 | £70 | £30,784 | £3,024 |
| 2 | Cherwell | 47.5/100 | £77 | £33,207 | £3,326 |
| 3 | Milton Keynes | 47.3/100 | £67 | £36,521 | £2,894 |
| 4 | West Oxfordshire | 46.2/100 | £60 | £34,006 | £2,592 |
| 5 | Southampton | 46.1/100 | £84 | £33,878 | £3,629 |
| 6 | Test Valley | 45.9/100 | £73 | £33,566 | £3,154 |
| 7 | Dartford | 45.3/100 | £86 | £32,428 | £3,715 |
| 8 | Tonbridge and Malling | 42.5/100 | £83 | £31,472 | £3,586 |
| 9 | Basingstoke and Deane | 38/100 | £83 | £35,492 | £3,586 |
| 10 | Bracknell Forest | 36.2/100 | £78 | £37,063 | £3,370 |
| 11 | Crawley | 35.6/100 | £119 | £36,053 | £5,141 |
| 12 | Vale of White Horse | 34.8/100 | £81 | £38,134 | £3,499 |
| 13 | Slough | 34.2/100 | £141 | £38,578 | £6,091 |
| 14 | West Berkshire | 32.8/100 | £100 | £35,806 | £4,320 |
| 15 | Reading | 20.1/100 | £114 | £44,956 | £4,925 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for large distribution warehouse premises in South East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South East is £60/m²/yr in West Oxfordshire. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Medway ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for large distribution warehouse in Medway?
- For a 100 m² unit in Medway, business rates are roughly £3,024/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £7,000/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).