Best areas to open storage / store unit in South East
64 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 or trade store unit in South East?
In South East, the best area to open a storage or trade store unit is Cherwell, with a Gera Business Location Score of 61.5/100: premises at £25/m²/yr and local median pay £33,207. Crawley ranks lowest of 64 South East authorities at 17.1/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South East area for storage / store unit: Cherwell.
How this is calculatedSouth East ranked for storage / store unit
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cherwell | 61.5/100 | £25 | £33,207 | £1,080 |
| 2 | Isle of Wight | 58.6/100 | £45 | £26,185 | £1,944 |
| 3 | Hastings | 58.4/100 | £40 | £29,383 | £1,728 |
| 4 | Thanet | 57.7/100 | £46 | £27,076 | £1,987 |
| 5 | Arun | 57.1/100 | £49 | £27,461 | £2,117 |
| 6 | Wealden | 56.9/100 | £52 | £27,639 | £2,246 |
| 7 | New Forest | 55.8/100 | £50 | £30,071 | £2,160 |
| 8 | Dover | 55.6/100 | £45 | £31,547 | £1,944 |
| 9 | Folkestone and Hythe | 55.3/100 | £46 | £31,907 | £1,987 |
| 10 | Rother | 55/100 | £56 | £27,732 | £2,419 |
| 11 | Ashford | 54.8/100 | £55 | £29,118 | £2,376 |
| 12 | Winchester | 54.5/100 | £46 | £34,568 | £1,987 |
| 13 | West Oxfordshire | 54.4/100 | £48 | £34,006 | £2,074 |
| 14 | Canterbury | 54.2/100 | £55 | £29,337 | £2,376 |
| 15 | Worthing | 53.9/100 | £56 | £29,044 | £2,419 |
| 16 | Medway | 53.5/100 | £54 | £30,784 | £2,333 |
| 17 | Maidstone | 53.5/100 | £54 | £31,986 | £2,333 |
| 18 | Swale | 53.5/100 | £56 | £29,831 | £2,419 |
| 19 | Chichester | 53.3/100 | £62 | £28,547 | £2,678 |
| 20 | Tandridge | 53.1/100 | £59 | £29,925 | £2,549 |
| 21 | Eastbourne | 53/100 | £62 | £26,893 | £2,678 |
| 22 | Buckinghamshire | 52.9/100 | £55 | £33,367 | £2,376 |
| 23 | Vale of White Horse | 52.6/100 | £45 | £38,134 | £1,944 |
| 24 | Tonbridge and Malling | 52.5/100 | £59 | £31,472 | £2,549 |
| 25 | Havant | 52.2/100 | £58 | £30,573 | £2,506 |
| 26 | West Berkshire | 52.1/100 | £54 | £35,806 | £2,333 |
| 27 | East Hampshire | 51.9/100 | £63 | £30,143 | £2,722 |
| 28 | Adur | 51.9/100 | £66 | £28,238 | £2,851 |
| 29 | Basingstoke and Deane | 51.7/100 | £53 | £35,492 | £2,290 |
| 30 | Milton Keynes | 51.6/100 | £53 | £36,521 | £2,290 |
| 31 | Horsham | 51.4/100 | £62 | £32,334 | £2,678 |
| 32 | Sevenoaks | 51/100 | £69 | £28,537 | £2,981 |
| 33 | Gosport | 50.9/100 | £62 | £30,518 | £2,678 |
| 34 | Test Valley | 50.8/100 | £62 | £33,566 | £2,678 |
| 35 | Tunbridge Wells | 50.8/100 | £67 | £30,296 | £2,894 |
| 36 | Elmbridge | 50.4/100 | £69 | £30,000 | £2,981 |
| 37 | Waverley | 50.4/100 | £66 | £31,083 | £2,851 |
| 38 | South Oxfordshire | 50.3/100 | £57 | £36,315 | £2,462 |
| 39 | Lewes | 50.1/100 | £64 | £32,287 | £2,765 |
| 40 | Guildford | 49.6/100 | £56 | £38,027 | £2,419 |
| 41 | Fareham | 49.4/100 | £66 | £32,895 | £2,851 |
| 42 | Southampton | 49.3/100 | £62 | £33,878 | £2,678 |
| 43 | Surrey Heath | 49.3/100 | £60 | £36,632 | £2,592 |
| 44 | Portsmouth | 48.9/100 | £65 | £33,015 | £2,808 |
| 45 | Epsom and Ewell | 48.3/100 | £67 | £33,824 | £2,894 |
| 46 | Gravesham | 47.7/100 | £67 | £34,455 | £2,894 |
| 47 | Wokingham | 47/100 | £64 | £38,552 | £2,765 |
| 48 | Reigate and Banstead | 47/100 | £62 | £39,073 | £2,678 |
| 49 | Mid Sussex | 46.9/100 | £77 | £31,401 | £3,326 |
| 50 | Oxford | 46.7/100 | £62 | £38,779 | £2,678 |
| 51 | Hart | 46.5/100 | £78 | £30,973 | £3,370 |
| 52 | Eastleigh | 46/100 | £73 | £35,362 | £3,154 |
| 53 | Mole Valley | 46/100 | £67 | £39,893 | £2,894 |
| 54 | Spelthorne | 44.8/100 | £82 | £32,237 | £3,542 |
| 55 | Dartford | 43.8/100 | £85 | £32,428 | £3,672 |
| 56 | Slough | 43.7/100 | £76 | £38,578 | £3,283 |
| 57 | Windsor and Maidenhead | 43.5/100 | £85 | £34,570 | £3,672 |
| 58 | Brighton and Hove | 43.4/100 | £83 | £33,649 | £3,586 |
| 59 | Runnymede | 42.5/100 | £78 | £40,000 | £3,370 |
| 60 | Woking | 42.1/100 | £86 | £35,258 | £3,715 |
| 61 | Bracknell Forest | 41/100 | £86 | £37,063 | £3,715 |
| 62 | Rushmoor | 38.5/100 | £99 | £34,238 | £4,277 |
| 63 | Reading | 38.3/100 | £81 | £44,956 | £3,499 |
| 64 | Crawley | 17.1/100 | £169 | £36,053 | £7,301 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for storage / store unit premises in South East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South East is £25/m²/yr in Cherwell. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Cherwell ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for storage / store unit in Cherwell?
- For a 100 m² unit in Cherwell, business rates are roughly £1,080/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £2,500/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
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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).