Buying your business premises with a commercial mortgage

Paying rent on premises you have traded from for years raises an obvious question: could the business own the building instead? It can, and a commercial mortgage is how. What it is not is a bigger version of the mortgage you have at home — a different lender is asking a different question, and the answer comes out of your accounts rather than off a payslip.

Can I buy the premises my business trades from?

Yes — a commercial mortgage for a business buying premises it will trade from is called owner-occupied lending, and it is one of the two main kinds. The other is investment lending, where the property is let to tenants. The distinction matters because the lender underwrites a different thing in each: your accounts and trading history in the first, the lease and the tenant in the second. The same building can be either, depending on who ends up in it.

Commercial mortgages for business or investment purposes are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

How much deposit will I need?

Commercial lending typically runs to about 75% of the property's value, so the deposit is usually the balance — and the costs sit on top of it rather than inside it. Lending typically starts around £100,000, and terms run up to around 25 years, though both move with the property and the case.

Take a £400,000 purchase. At a typical maximum of 75% that is a £300,000 mortgage and a £100,000 deposit. Valuation, legal fees on both sides, lender fees and stamp duty land tax all have to be funded separately, on top of that £100,000.

The deposit is the number people plan for. The costs on top are the part to plan early. Stamp duty on non-residential and mixed-use property has its own rates, set out on gov.uk (checked October 2026). How it falls on your purchase is a question for your accountant or solicitor.

What will a lender want to see from my business?

The accounts: trading history, profitability, and whether the business can service the payments alongside its other commitments. Expect to provide filed accounts, up-to-date management figures, and bank statements, together with ID for each director.

A lender is also asking a quieter question behind that one — whether the business will still be in the building in five years' time. A commercial lender looks at the building, but what it's really asking about is the business inside it. That is why a case presented complete, with the figures explained rather than left to be queried into shape, tends to move more smoothly than one that arrives in pieces.

The property matters too: what it is, where it is, and how readily it could be let or sold to someone else if the business moved on.

Should I buy it through my limited company or personally?

Buying through a limited company is a common way to do it, and lenders are used to a company borrower. They will usually want personal guarantees from the directors alongside it.

Whether owning the premises in the company, personally, or in a pension is right for you is a tax and structure question rather than a lending one. Speak to your accountant before you decide — and, if a pension is in the picture, a pensions adviser — because it is difficult to unpick later. We can tell you what each route looks like to a lender; what it costs you in tax is theirs to answer.

Are commercial mortgages regulated by the FCA?

Commercial mortgages for business or investment purposes are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. That is a statement about the product, not about us — Lawes Financial is an appointed representative, and the detail is at the foot of this page.

What it means in practice is that the protections and remedies attached to a regulated mortgage do not come with this loan. A loan on premises with no home in them sits outside the regulated regime because of what the property is, not what the loan is for. A building with somewhere to live in it can be a different matter, and we have written about that separately in semi-commercial: buying a shop with a flat above.

How long does it take from application to completion?

Typically four to six weeks. The two things that move it are the valuation and the legals, and neither is fully in anyone's control.

If you have a deadline — a lease ending, a seller's date, an auction — say so at the start rather than part way through. Where the timing is genuinely tight, bridging finance is sometimes the route instead, and that conversation is easier to have early than late.

What does your advice cost?

Our standard fee is £495, payable when your application is submitted. In some more complex cases, an additional broker fee of up to 1% of the loan may apply. The first conversation is always free, and we always confirm your total fee in writing before any work starts.

We are also paid a procuration fee by the lender if your case completes, and we will tell you what it is before you proceed.

The short version

Owner-occupied commercial lending is underwritten on the accounts, not on a salary.

Lending typically starts around £100,000 and runs to about 75% of value, so plan the deposit as the balance — and fund the valuation, legal fees, lender fees and stamp duty on top of it.

Four to six weeks is the usual run from application to completion, and the valuation and the legals are what move it.

Owning the building through a company is common, and comes with personal guarantees. The tax question belongs to your accountant.

Read next: personal guarantees on commercial mortgages — what they mean, or the full picture on our commercial mortgages page.

Lawes Financial Limited (FRN 1046161) is an appointed representative of Andrew Charles Consulting Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 304904).