Best areas to open post office in South West
15 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 post office in South West?
In South West, the best area to open a post office is North Devon, with a Gera Business Location Score of 67.3/100: premises at £47/m²/yr and local median pay £27,526. Bath and North East Somerset ranks lowest of 15 South West authorities at 39.8/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
South West ranked for post office
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Devon | 67.3/100 | £47 | £27,526 | £2,030 |
| 2 | Forest of Dean | 63.3/100 | £55 | £25,387 | £2,376 |
| 3 | East Devon | 61.7/100 | £50 | £31,874 | £2,160 |
| 4 | Mid Devon | 60/100 | £61 | £29,224 | £2,635 |
| 5 | Torridge | 59/100 | £92 | £26,745 | £3,974 |
| 6 | Dorset | 57.5/100 | £97 | £29,292 | £4,190 |
| 7 | Wiltshire | 57.1/100 | £77 | £30,000 | £3,326 |
| 8 | Cornwall | 57/100 | £109 | £27,006 | £4,709 |
| 9 | Somerset | 55.9/100 | £94 | £29,152 | £4,061 |
| 10 | South Hams | 55/100 | £133 | £28,329 | £5,746 |
| 11 | South Gloucestershire | 52.5/100 | £62 | £36,920 | £2,678 |
| 12 | Teignbridge | 51.8/100 | £119 | £28,636 | £5,141 |
| 13 | Cotswold | 49.9/100 | £167 | £29,655 | £7,214 |
| 14 | Exeter | 49.6/100 | £124 | £30,138 | £5,357 |
| 15 | Bath and North East Somerset | 39.8/100 | £179 | £32,004 | £7,733 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for post office premises in South West?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South West is £47/m²/yr in North Devon. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, North Devon ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for post office in North Devon?
- For a 100 m² unit in North Devon, business rates are roughly £2,030/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £4,700/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a post office in South West?
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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).