1. Preparation (you, week 0)
Gather the file: accounts, statements, assets and liabilities, lease, property details, a one-page summary. The checklist. This is the stage most people skip, and it is where a month is saved or lost.
2. Adviser and lender selection (days)
An adviser reviews the file, tells you honestly what is achievable, and takes the case to the lenders who will like it. You get indicative terms (rate, fee, LTV, conditions) from one or more lenders within a few days. Choose on total cost and conditions, not headline rate.
3. Application and credit approval (one to three weeks)
Full application to the chosen lender. Their credit team underwrites the business, the property and you; expect questions. Approval in principle, subject to valuation and legals.
4. Valuation (one to three weeks)
The lender instructs a RICS surveyor. Booking the visit is often the slowest single step. The report covers value, saleability, condition, EPC and anything that worries them. A low valuation reduces the loan; a bad report can add conditions (repairs, retentions).
5. Formal offer (days)
The facility letter: the loan, rate, fees, term, security (the property, guarantees, debentures), covenants and conditions precedent. Read every line. Your solicitor should explain the covenants.
6. Legal work (two to six weeks)
Your solicitor: title, searches, lease review, enquiries of the seller, reporting to the lender. The lender's solicitor: checking everything and preparing the charge. Directors take independent legal advice on personal guarantees. This is where deals drag: a solicitor who does not do commercial property, a title defect, a lease that needs varying.
7. Exchange and completion (days)
Contracts exchanged, deposit paid, completion date set; lender releases funds to your solicitor; completion. Stamp duty return within 14 days.
Six things that speed it up
- A complete file at the start.
- Answering lender and solicitor questions the same day.
- A commercial property solicitor, instructed early.
- Accepting the first valuation date.
- Telling the adviser about any deadline at the start.
- Not changing the structure (borrower, amount, property) midway.
If a deadline is fixed and short (an auction, a seller who will not wait), bridging first, mortgage after is a normal route.
A note on the numbers. Rates, loan-to-value limits, fees and criteria are typical figures at the time of writing (2026). Commercial lending is priced case by case, so your own terms depend on the property, the business, the tenant and you. This is information, not advice, and not an offer of finance.
Quick answers
Can I get a decision in principle before I find a property?
Yes; an adviser can get indicative terms on the business alone, which tells you your budget and gives you something to show a seller or agent.
What is a conditions precedent list?
The things that must be in place before the lender releases money: insurance, guarantees signed, a satisfactory valuation and legal report, sometimes a lease being signed or a licence transferred.
Ready to talk to someone who can actually arrange it?
Tell us about the property and the business, and a commercial finance adviser will come back with which lenders fit, what rate to expect and what they'll want to see. No fee for the conversation, no obligation.