Best areas to open storage / store unit 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 storage or trade store unit in London?
In London, the best area to open a storage or trade store unit is Bexley, with a Gera Business Location Score of 50.9/100: premises at £69/m²/yr and local median pay £27,441. Tower Hamlets ranks lowest of 33 London authorities at 9.8/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
London ranked for storage / store unit
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bexley | 50.9/100 | £69 | £27,441 | £2,981 |
| 2 | Haringey | 50.4/100 | £72 | £27,716 | £3,110 |
| 3 | Havering | 48.5/100 | £70 | £31,874 | £3,024 |
| 4 | Bromley | 46.9/100 | £72 | £33,520 | £3,110 |
| 5 | Redbridge | 45.6/100 | £87 | £28,125 | £3,758 |
| 6 | Merton | 45/100 | £81 | £32,983 | £3,499 |
| 7 | Greenwich | 44.8/100 | £83 | £30,787 | £3,586 |
| 8 | Barking and Dagenham | 44.6/100 | £83 | £32,433 | £3,586 |
| 9 | City of London | 44/100 | £122 | £67,064 | £5,270 |
| 10 | Enfield | 44/100 | £89 | £31,252 | £3,845 |
| 11 | Croydon | 43.6/100 | £80 | £34,987 | £3,456 |
| 12 | Lewisham | 43.5/100 | £79 | £34,965 | £3,413 |
| 13 | Sutton | 43.1/100 | £82 | £35,113 | £3,542 |
| 14 | Kingston upon Thames | 41.6/100 | £86 | £36,898 | £3,715 |
| 15 | Camden | 40.7/100 | £79 | £48,822 | £3,413 |
| 16 | Harrow | 40.6/100 | £99 | £32,208 | £4,277 |
| 17 | Barnet | 39.5/100 | £106 | £30,926 | £4,579 |
| 18 | Brent | 39.5/100 | £102 | £32,335 | £4,406 |
| 19 | Ealing | 39.4/100 | £101 | £33,592 | £4,363 |
| 20 | Kensington and Chelsea | 36.8/100 | £103 | £38,541 | £4,450 |
| 21 | Newham | 36.7/100 | £97 | £39,117 | £4,190 |
| 22 | Hillingdon | 36.1/100 | £103 | £37,941 | £4,450 |
| 23 | Waltham Forest | 34.4/100 | £123 | £28,880 | £5,314 |
| 24 | Wandsworth | 33.7/100 | £110 | £37,534 | £4,752 |
| 25 | Hounslow | 33.5/100 | £111 | £38,422 | £4,795 |
| 26 | Richmond upon Thames | 32.9/100 | £118 | £35,263 | £5,098 |
| 27 | Hammersmith and Fulham | 31.2/100 | £110 | £44,042 | £4,752 |
| 28 | Islington | 29.9/100 | £107 | £49,624 | £4,622 |
| 29 | Lambeth | 23.2/100 | £136 | £42,039 | £5,875 |
| 30 | Southwark | 21.3/100 | £134 | £47,136 | £5,789 |
| 31 | Hackney | 20.5/100 | £157 | £37,736 | £6,782 |
| 32 | Westminster | 19/100 | £156 | £49,973 | £6,739 |
| 33 | Tower Hamlets | 9.8/100 | £153 | £59,974 | £6,610 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for storage / store unit premises in London?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in London is £69/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 storage / store unit in Bexley?
- For a 100 m² unit in Bexley, business rates are roughly £2,981/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £6,900/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a storage or trade store unit 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).