Best areas to open retail warehouse in London
23 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 retail warehouse / foodstore in London?
In London, the best area to open a retail warehouse / foodstore is Redbridge, with a Gera Business Location Score of 59.3/100: premises at £175/m²/yr and local median pay £28,125. Tower Hamlets ranks lowest of 23 London authorities at 31.7/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
London ranked for retail warehouse
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Redbridge | 59.3/100 | £175 | £28,125 | £7,560 |
| 2 | Haringey | 57.6/100 | £190 | £27,716 | £8,208 |
| 3 | Enfield | 57.5/100 | £171 | £31,252 | £7,387 |
| 4 | Brent | 57.4/100 | £171 | £32,335 | £7,387 |
| 5 | Newham | 56.8/100 | £149 | £39,117 | £6,437 |
| 6 | Kingston upon Thames | 56.1/100 | £197 | £36,898 | £8,510 |
| 7 | Bexley | 55.4/100 | £159 | £27,441 | £6,869 |
| 8 | Barking and Dagenham | 51.8/100 | £185 | £32,433 | £7,992 |
| 9 | Barnet | 51.2/100 | £256 | £30,926 | £11,059 |
| 10 | Richmond upon Thames | 51.1/100 | £224 | £35,263 | £9,677 |
| 11 | Waltham Forest | 51.1/100 | £218 | £28,880 | £9,418 |
| 12 | Havering | 50.8/100 | £193 | £31,874 | £8,338 |
| 13 | Ealing | 50.3/100 | £225 | £33,592 | £9,720 |
| 14 | Hillingdon | 49.1/100 | £214 | £37,941 | £9,245 |
| 15 | Merton | 48.9/100 | £221 | £32,983 | £9,547 |
| 16 | Lewisham | 48.5/100 | £178 | £34,965 | £7,690 |
| 17 | Bromley | 48.1/100 | £211 | £33,520 | £9,115 |
| 18 | Wandsworth | 46/100 | £208 | £37,534 | £8,986 |
| 19 | Greenwich | 45.7/100 | £231 | £30,787 | £9,979 |
| 20 | Hounslow | 45.3/100 | £234 | £38,422 | £10,109 |
| 21 | Southwark | 44.7/100 | £183 | £47,136 | £7,906 |
| 22 | Croydon | 42.2/100 | £242 | £34,987 | £10,454 |
| 23 | Tower Hamlets | 31.7/100 | £228 | £59,974 | £9,850 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for retail warehouse premises in London?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in London is £149/m²/yr in Newham. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Redbridge ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for retail warehouse in Redbridge?
- For a 100 m² unit in Redbridge, business rates are roughly £7,560/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £17,500/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a retail warehouse / foodstore 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).