Best areas to open post office in South East
24 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 post office in South East?
In South East, the best area to open a post office is Thanet, with a Gera Business Location Score of 65/100: premises at £45/m²/yr and local median pay £27,076. Eastleigh ranks lowest of 24 South East authorities at 41.9/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
South East ranked for post office
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thanet | 65/100 | £45 | £27,076 | £1,944 |
| 2 | Wealden | 63.9/100 | £56 | £27,639 | £2,419 |
| 3 | Isle of Wight | 61.5/100 | £75 | £26,185 | £3,240 |
| 4 | Havant | 61.4/100 | £46 | £30,573 | £1,987 |
| 5 | New Forest | 58.7/100 | £81 | £30,071 | £3,499 |
| 6 | Swale | 58/100 | £63 | £29,831 | £2,722 |
| 7 | Waverley | 57.5/100 | £78 | £31,083 | £3,370 |
| 8 | Ashford | 57.4/100 | £86 | £29,118 | £3,715 |
| 9 | Medway | 56.7/100 | £68 | £30,784 | £2,938 |
| 10 | Gosport | 56.4/100 | £64 | £30,518 | £2,765 |
| 11 | Dover | 56.1/100 | £75 | £31,547 | £3,240 |
| 12 | Winchester | 55.4/100 | £135 | £34,568 | £5,832 |
| 13 | Sevenoaks | 55.3/100 | £98 | £28,537 | £4,234 |
| 14 | Test Valley | 55.1/100 | £69 | £33,566 | £2,981 |
| 15 | Tunbridge Wells | 51.9/100 | £127 | £30,296 | £5,486 |
| 16 | Portsmouth | 50.5/100 | £98 | £33,015 | £4,234 |
| 17 | Brighton and Hove | 49/100 | £126 | £33,649 | £5,443 |
| 18 | Fareham | 49/100 | £110 | £32,895 | £4,752 |
| 19 | Southampton | 48.5/100 | £114 | £33,878 | £4,925 |
| 20 | Basingstoke and Deane | 47.5/100 | £99 | £35,492 | £4,277 |
| 21 | Buckinghamshire | 43.4/100 | £148 | £33,367 | £6,394 |
| 22 | Dartford | 42.8/100 | £162 | £32,428 | £6,998 |
| 23 | Maidstone | 42.1/100 | £161 | £31,986 | £6,955 |
| 24 | Eastleigh | 41.9/100 | £139 | £35,362 | £6,005 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for post office premises in South East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South East is £45/m²/yr in Thanet. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Thanet ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for post office in Thanet?
- For a 100 m² unit in Thanet, business rates are roughly £1,944/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £4,500/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a post office in South East?
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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).