Best areas to open restaurant in London
33 London local authorities ranked by the Gera Business Location Score — real rent, wages, rates and market density.
Where is the best place to open a restaurant in London?
In London, the best area to open a restaurant is Bexley, with a Gera Business Location Score of 59.1/100: premises at £123/m²/yr and local median pay £27,441. Westminster ranks lowest of 33 London authorities at 16.9/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
London ranked for restaurant
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bexley | 59.1/100 | £123 | £27,441 | £5,314 |
| 2 | Redbridge | 55.1/100 | £168 | £28,125 | £7,258 |
| 3 | Sutton | 53.8/100 | £139 | £35,113 | £6,005 |
| 4 | Enfield | 52.9/100 | £175 | £31,252 | £7,560 |
| 5 | Waltham Forest | 52.9/100 | £188 | £28,880 | £8,122 |
| 6 | Bromley | 52.8/100 | £162 | £33,520 | £6,998 |
| 7 | Croydon | 52.8/100 | £152 | £34,987 | £6,566 |
| 8 | Barking and Dagenham | 52.7/100 | £165 | £32,433 | £7,128 |
| 9 | Haringey | 51.4/100 | £216 | £27,716 | £9,331 |
| 10 | Lewisham | 51.4/100 | £169 | £34,965 | £7,301 |
| 11 | Greenwich | 50.8/100 | £200 | £30,787 | £8,640 |
| 12 | Harrow | 50.5/100 | £196 | £32,208 | £8,467 |
| 13 | Brent | 49.9/100 | £203 | £32,335 | £8,770 |
| 14 | Ealing | 49.7/100 | £197 | £33,592 | £8,510 |
| 15 | Havering | 49.6/100 | £208 | £31,874 | £8,986 |
| 16 | Hillingdon | 49.2/100 | £178 | £37,941 | £7,690 |
| 17 | Barnet | 48.4/100 | £230 | £30,926 | £9,936 |
| 18 | Merton | 47.4/100 | £228 | £32,983 | £9,850 |
| 19 | Richmond upon Thames | 46.8/100 | £228 | £35,263 | £9,850 |
| 20 | Hounslow | 46.3/100 | £209 | £38,422 | £9,029 |
| 21 | Kingston upon Thames | 45.5/100 | £230 | £36,898 | £9,936 |
| 22 | Wandsworth | 43.9/100 | £243 | £37,534 | £10,498 |
| 23 | City of London | 42.7/100 | £419 | £67,064 | £18,101 |
| 24 | Hackney | 39.7/100 | £299 | £37,736 | £12,917 |
| 25 | Newham | 39.3/100 | £285 | £39,117 | £12,312 |
| 26 | Islington | 33.7/100 | £305 | £49,624 | £13,176 |
| 27 | Hammersmith and Fulham | 33.3/100 | £336 | £44,042 | £14,515 |
| 28 | Southwark | 30.1/100 | £352 | £47,136 | £15,206 |
| 29 | Lambeth | 29.8/100 | £382 | £42,039 | £16,502 |
| 30 | Camden | 26.2/100 | £421 | £48,822 | £18,187 |
| 31 | Tower Hamlets | 26/100 | £322 | £59,974 | £13,910 |
| 32 | Kensington and Chelsea | 22.2/100 | £513 | £38,541 | £22,162 |
| 33 | Westminster | 16.9/100 | £567 | £49,973 | £24,494 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for restaurant premises in London?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in London is £123/m²/yr in Bexley. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Bexley ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for restaurant in Bexley?
- For a 100 m² unit in Bexley, business rates are roughly £5,314/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £12,300/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a restaurant in London?
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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).