Best areas to open storage depot in South East
18 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 storage depot in South East?
In South East, the best area to open a storage depot is Tunbridge Wells, with a Gera Business Location Score of 57.1/100: premises at £16/m²/yr and local median pay £30,296. Waverley ranks lowest of 18 South East authorities at 20.7/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South East area for storage depot: Tunbridge Wells.
How this is calculatedSouth East ranked for storage depot
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tunbridge Wells | 57.1/100 | £16 | £30,296 | £691 |
| 2 | Dover | 55.7/100 | £22 | £31,547 | £950 |
| 3 | Chichester | 51.2/100 | £34 | £28,547 | £1,469 |
| 4 | Ashford | 50.5/100 | £35 | £29,118 | £1,512 |
| 5 | Wealden | 46.2/100 | £41 | £27,639 | £1,771 |
| 6 | New Forest | 46.2/100 | £46 | £30,071 | £1,987 |
| 7 | Medway | 45.6/100 | £46 | £30,784 | £1,987 |
| 8 | Dartford | 43.1/100 | £53 | £32,428 | £2,290 |
| 9 | Cherwell | 40.3/100 | £57 | £33,207 | £2,462 |
| 10 | Mid Sussex | 38.7/100 | £50 | £31,401 | £2,160 |
| 11 | West Oxfordshire | 37/100 | £50 | £34,006 | £2,160 |
| 12 | Lewes | 36.2/100 | £55 | £32,287 | £2,376 |
| 13 | West Berkshire | 34.9/100 | £54 | £35,806 | £2,333 |
| 14 | Winchester | 33.1/100 | £55 | £34,568 | £2,376 |
| 15 | Tonbridge and Malling | 30.2/100 | £72 | £31,472 | £3,110 |
| 16 | Buckinghamshire | 28/100 | £73 | £33,367 | £3,154 |
| 17 | Horsham | 22.6/100 | £84 | £32,334 | £3,629 |
| 18 | Waverley | 20.7/100 | £82 | £31,083 | £3,542 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for storage depot premises in South East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South East is £16/m²/yr in Tunbridge Wells. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Tunbridge Wells ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for storage depot in Tunbridge Wells?
- For a 100 m² unit in Tunbridge Wells, business rates are roughly £691/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £1,600/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a storage depot 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).