Best areas to open workshop / warehouse 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 workshop or small warehouse in South East?
In South East, the best area to open a workshop or small warehouse is Isle of Wight, with a Gera Business Location Score of 63.4/100: premises at £46/m²/yr and local median pay £26,185. Slough ranks lowest of 64 South East authorities at 42.3/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South East area for workshop / warehouse: Isle of Wight.
How this is calculatedSouth East ranked for workshop / warehouse
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isle of Wight | 63.4/100 | £46 | £26,185 | £1,987 |
| 2 | Rother | 62.8/100 | £44 | £27,732 | £1,901 |
| 3 | Thanet | 60.6/100 | £54 | £27,076 | £2,333 |
| 4 | Wealden | 60/100 | £61 | £27,639 | £2,635 |
| 5 | Hastings | 59.9/100 | £51 | £29,383 | £2,203 |
| 6 | Arun | 59.1/100 | £62 | £27,461 | £2,678 |
| 7 | Eastbourne | 59/100 | £61 | £26,893 | £2,635 |
| 8 | Ashford | 58.4/100 | £63 | £29,118 | £2,722 |
| 9 | Adur | 58.4/100 | £66 | £28,238 | £2,851 |
| 10 | Canterbury | 58.2/100 | £59 | £29,337 | £2,549 |
| 11 | Folkestone and Hythe | 58.2/100 | £53 | £31,907 | £2,290 |
| 12 | Swale | 58.2/100 | £62 | £29,831 | £2,678 |
| 13 | Dover | 58.1/100 | £55 | £31,547 | £2,376 |
| 14 | Chichester | 58.1/100 | £68 | £28,547 | £2,938 |
| 15 | New Forest | 57.7/100 | £67 | £30,071 | £2,894 |
| 16 | East Hampshire | 57.3/100 | £67 | £30,143 | £2,894 |
| 17 | West Oxfordshire | 57.3/100 | £56 | £34,006 | £2,419 |
| 18 | Gosport | 57.1/100 | £63 | £30,518 | £2,722 |
| 19 | Cherwell | 57.1/100 | £57 | £33,207 | £2,462 |
| 20 | Tandridge | 57.1/100 | £66 | £29,925 | £2,851 |
| 21 | Worthing | 56.7/100 | £68 | £29,044 | £2,938 |
| 22 | Lewes | 56.5/100 | £65 | £32,287 | £2,808 |
| 23 | Medway | 56.1/100 | £67 | £30,784 | £2,894 |
| 24 | Test Valley | 56.1/100 | £64 | £33,566 | £2,765 |
| 25 | Maidstone | 56/100 | £66 | £31,986 | £2,851 |
| 26 | Tunbridge Wells | 56/100 | £71 | £30,296 | £3,067 |
| 27 | Havant | 55.9/100 | £71 | £30,573 | £3,067 |
| 28 | Sevenoaks | 55.8/100 | £79 | £28,537 | £3,413 |
| 29 | Buckinghamshire | 55.2/100 | £68 | £33,367 | £2,938 |
| 30 | South Oxfordshire | 54.9/100 | £61 | £36,315 | £2,635 |
| 31 | Horsham | 54.7/100 | £75 | £32,334 | £3,240 |
| 32 | Milton Keynes | 54.5/100 | £60 | £36,521 | £2,592 |
| 33 | Tonbridge and Malling | 54.4/100 | £76 | £31,472 | £3,283 |
| 34 | Elmbridge | 54.4/100 | £79 | £30,000 | £3,413 |
| 35 | Portsmouth | 54.3/100 | £69 | £33,015 | £2,981 |
| 36 | Fareham | 54.3/100 | £74 | £32,895 | £3,197 |
| 37 | Southampton | 54.1/100 | £67 | £33,878 | £2,894 |
| 38 | Winchester | 54.1/100 | £70 | £34,568 | £3,024 |
| 39 | Gravesham | 54/100 | £68 | £34,455 | £2,938 |
| 40 | Waverley | 53.8/100 | £80 | £31,083 | £3,456 |
| 41 | West Berkshire | 53.7/100 | £69 | £35,806 | £2,981 |
| 42 | Basingstoke and Deane | 53.4/100 | £68 | £35,492 | £2,938 |
| 43 | Vale of White Horse | 52.5/100 | £69 | £38,134 | £2,981 |
| 44 | Eastleigh | 52.4/100 | £77 | £35,362 | £3,326 |
| 45 | Mid Sussex | 52/100 | £88 | £31,401 | £3,802 |
| 46 | Hart | 51.7/100 | £89 | £30,973 | £3,845 |
| 47 | Rushmoor | 50.5/100 | £87 | £34,238 | £3,758 |
| 48 | Surrey Heath | 50.5/100 | £82 | £36,632 | £3,542 |
| 49 | Spelthorne | 50.4/100 | £93 | £32,237 | £4,018 |
| 50 | Dartford | 50.3/100 | £93 | £32,428 | £4,018 |
| 51 | Reigate and Banstead | 49.8/100 | £77 | £39,073 | £3,326 |
| 52 | Guildford | 49.5/100 | £81 | £38,027 | £3,499 |
| 53 | Windsor and Maidenhead | 49.4/100 | £93 | £34,570 | £4,018 |
| 54 | Brighton and Hove | 49.2/100 | £94 | £33,649 | £4,061 |
| 55 | Oxford | 48.7/100 | £80 | £38,779 | £3,456 |
| 56 | Mole Valley | 48/100 | £87 | £39,893 | £3,758 |
| 57 | Crawley | 47.9/100 | £95 | £36,053 | £4,104 |
| 58 | Bracknell Forest | 47.4/100 | £93 | £37,063 | £4,018 |
| 59 | Epsom and Ewell | 45.9/100 | £110 | £33,824 | £4,752 |
| 60 | Wokingham | 45.8/100 | £100 | £38,552 | £4,320 |
| 61 | Reading | 45.7/100 | £81 | £44,956 | £3,499 |
| 62 | Woking | 45.7/100 | £109 | £35,258 | £4,709 |
| 63 | Runnymede | 44.5/100 | £102 | £40,000 | £4,406 |
| 64 | Slough | 42.3/100 | £117 | £38,578 | £5,054 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for workshop / warehouse premises in South East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South East is £44/m²/yr in Rother. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Isle of Wight ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for workshop / warehouse in Isle of Wight?
- For a 100 m² unit in Isle of Wight, business rates are roughly £1,987/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £4,600/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).