Best areas to open takeaway in London
11 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 takeaway food outlet in London?
In London, the best area to open a takeaway food outlet is Bexley, with a Gera Business Location Score of 61.5/100: premises at £141/m²/yr and local median pay £27,441. Tower Hamlets ranks lowest of 11 London authorities at 9.3/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
London ranked for takeaway
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bexley | 61.5/100 | £141 | £27,441 | £6,091 |
| 2 | Waltham Forest | 58.5/100 | £182 | £28,880 | £7,862 |
| 3 | Croydon | 56.9/100 | £146 | £34,987 | £6,307 |
| 4 | Merton | 56.4/100 | £185 | £32,983 | £7,992 |
| 5 | Wandsworth | 54.5/100 | £185 | £37,534 | £7,992 |
| 6 | Richmond upon Thames | 54.3/100 | £245 | £35,263 | £10,584 |
| 7 | Kingston upon Thames | 51.1/100 | £249 | £36,898 | £10,757 |
| 8 | Brent | 50.3/100 | £276 | £32,335 | £11,923 |
| 9 | Camden | 47.7/100 | £513 | £48,822 | £22,162 |
| 10 | Lambeth | 41.6/100 | £340 | £42,039 | £14,688 |
| 11 | Tower Hamlets | 9.3/100 | £663 | £59,974 | £28,642 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for takeaway premises in London?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in London is £141/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 takeaway in Bexley?
- For a 100 m² unit in Bexley, business rates are roughly £6,091/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £14,100/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a takeaway food outlet in London?
Set up your UK GDPR and EU AI Act compliance from day one with a fixed-scope GeraCompliance sprint.
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).