Best areas to open takeaway in South East
32 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 takeaway food outlet in South East?
In South East, the best area to open a takeaway food outlet is Thanet, with a Gera Business Location Score of 74.6/100: premises at £79/m²/yr and local median pay £27,076. Milton Keynes ranks lowest of 32 South East authorities at 44.9/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
South East ranked for takeaway
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thanet | 74.6/100 | £79 | £27,076 | £3,413 |
| 2 | Hastings | 69.9/100 | £85 | £29,383 | £3,672 |
| 3 | Folkestone and Hythe | 68.4/100 | £102 | £31,907 | £4,406 |
| 4 | Canterbury | 68.2/100 | £106 | £29,337 | £4,579 |
| 5 | Dover | 67.9/100 | £78 | £31,547 | £3,370 |
| 6 | New Forest | 66.3/100 | £124 | £30,071 | £5,357 |
| 7 | Wealden | 66.1/100 | £119 | £27,639 | £5,141 |
| 8 | Brighton and Hove | 65.1/100 | £151 | £33,649 | £6,523 |
| 9 | Ashford | 64.3/100 | £116 | £29,118 | £5,011 |
| 10 | East Hampshire | 63.5/100 | £99 | £30,143 | £4,277 |
| 11 | Portsmouth | 61.6/100 | £147 | £33,015 | £6,350 |
| 12 | Swale | 61.6/100 | £129 | £29,831 | £5,573 |
| 13 | Tunbridge Wells | 61.4/100 | £162 | £30,296 | £6,998 |
| 14 | Southampton | 61.3/100 | £105 | £33,878 | £4,536 |
| 15 | Buckinghamshire | 60.4/100 | £121 | £33,367 | £5,227 |
| 16 | Dartford | 60.3/100 | £136 | £32,428 | £5,875 |
| 17 | Fareham | 60.2/100 | £108 | £32,895 | £4,666 |
| 18 | Mid Sussex | 59.9/100 | £144 | £31,401 | £6,221 |
| 19 | Medway | 59.6/100 | £136 | £30,784 | £5,875 |
| 20 | Mole Valley | 59.2/100 | £117 | £39,893 | £5,054 |
| 21 | Sevenoaks | 58.9/100 | £202 | £28,537 | £8,726 |
| 22 | Test Valley | 58/100 | £137 | £33,566 | £5,918 |
| 23 | Eastleigh | 57.9/100 | £114 | £35,362 | £4,925 |
| 24 | Rushmoor | 57.5/100 | £141 | £34,238 | £6,091 |
| 25 | Winchester | 56.9/100 | £199 | £34,568 | £8,597 |
| 26 | Tonbridge and Malling | 56.6/100 | £181 | £31,472 | £7,819 |
| 27 | Cherwell | 55/100 | £200 | £33,207 | £8,640 |
| 28 | Slough | 54/100 | £138 | £38,578 | £5,962 |
| 29 | Basingstoke and Deane | 54/100 | £152 | £35,492 | £6,566 |
| 30 | Runnymede | 53.2/100 | £175 | £40,000 | £7,560 |
| 31 | Crawley | 51.3/100 | £219 | £36,053 | £9,461 |
| 32 | Milton Keynes | 44.9/100 | £308 | £36,521 | £13,306 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for takeaway premises in South East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South East is £78/m²/yr in Dover. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Thanet ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for takeaway in Thanet?
- For a 100 m² unit in Thanet, business rates are roughly £3,413/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £7,900/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a takeaway food outlet 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).