Best UK areas to open storage depot
130 local authorities ranked by the Gera Business Location Score — real commercial rent, local wages, business rates and market density.
Which UK areas are best for opening a storage depot in 2026?
The best UK area to open a storage depot is Thurrock (East), with a Gera Business Location Score of 77.8/100: premises at £21/m²/yr and local median pay of £34,388. Bromley ranks lowest at 16.1/100. Ranked across 130 local authorities from 2025 government open data; re-dated annually.
Top 10 areas for storage depot
| # | Local authority | Region | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thurrock | East | 77.8/100 | £21 | £34,388 | £907 |
| 2 | Doncaster | Yorkshire and The Humber | 76.6/100 | £14 | £28,928 | £605 |
| 3 | North West Leicestershire | East Midlands | 70/100 | £11 | £30,034 | £475 |
| 4 | Boston | East Midlands | 69.3/100 | £30 | £26,187 | £1,296 |
| 5 | North Somerset | South West | 68.6/100 | £9 | £28,749 | £389 |
| 6 | Great Yarmouth | East | 66.5/100 | £10 | £26,484 | £432 |
| 7 | North Norfolk | East | 65.7/100 | £10 | £26,296 | £432 |
| 8 | Powys | Wales | 65.2/100 | £14 | £26,839 | £605 |
| 9 | West Lancashire | North West | 62.9/100 | £17 | £28,909 | £734 |
| 10 | East Lindsey | East Midlands | 62.2/100 | £15 | £26,724 | £648 |
Filter by your budget
Set a premises size and monthly budget to shortlist the areas that fit.
Budget covers estimated annual rent (VOA rateable value × floor area) plus the 2026-27 small-business rates bill (43.2p multiplier), spread over 12 months. Real reliefs (e.g. Small Business Rate Relief) can reduce the rates portion further.
Best areas to open a storage depot within £2,000/month
- 1ThurrockEastGBLS 77.8≈ £200/mo
- 2DoncasterYorkshire and The HumberGBLS 76.6≈ £134/mo
- 3North West LeicestershireEast MidlandsGBLS 70≈ £105/mo
- 4BostonEast MidlandsGBLS 69.3≈ £286/mo
- 5North SomersetSouth WestGBLS 68.6≈ £86/mo
- 6Great YarmouthEastGBLS 66.5≈ £95/mo
- 7North NorfolkEastGBLS 65.7≈ £95/mo
- 8PowysWalesGBLS 65.2≈ £134/mo
- 9West LancashireNorth WestGBLS 62.9≈ £162/mo
- 10East LindseyEast MidlandsGBLS 62.2≈ £143/mo
- 11South NorfolkEastGBLS 62.1≈ £134/mo
- 12North KestevenEast MidlandsGBLS 61.6≈ £95/mo
- 13RotherhamYorkshire and The HumberGBLS 61.3≈ £181/mo
- 14South DerbyshireEast MidlandsGBLS 61.3≈ £86/mo
- 15Neath Port Talbot / Castell-nedd Port TalbotWalesGBLS 61.3≈ £105/mo
Storage depot by region
Frequently asked questions
- Where is the cheapest place to open a storage depot in the UK?
- By premises cost alone, the lowest VOA rateable value among the 130 ranked areas is £9/m²/yr in North Somerset. But the Gera Business Location Score also weighs local wages and market demand: on the combined score, Thurrock ranks #1 at 77.8/100.
- How much is rent and business rates for storage depot premises in Thurrock?
- In Thurrock, the VOA rateable value for this property type is £21 per m² per year. For a 100 m² unit that is about £2,100/yr rent, plus roughly £907/yr business rates at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p) — before any Small Business Rate Relief.
- What data is this based on?
- VOA Non-Domestic Rating Business Floorspace (rateable value per m², 31 March 2025), ONS UK Business Counts 2025 (market density), ONS ASHE 2025 (local wages) and ONS mid-2024 population — all Open Government Licence v3.0, joined on the ONS local-authority code.
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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).