Who borrows, and what for

Business owners buying their own premises

The largest group. A trades business buying the workshop it rents, a retailer buying its shop, a dentist buying the practice building, a café owner buying the unit, a haulier buying the yard. The case is simple: the rent you pay a landlord becomes a mortgage payment on something you own, and the business (or your pension) has an asset at the end. Lenders like it when the payment is close to the current rent and the business has three years of steady accounts. Loan-to-value: 70% to 75%; 80% for some professions. Lender looks at: profits, statements, your experience.

Investors buying commercial property to let

Individuals, partnerships and limited companies buying a shop, office or industrial unit with a business tenant in place. Yields are higher than residential (6% to 10% gross is common), leases are longer (five to fifteen years), and the tenant usually pays for repairs and insurance under a full repairing and insuring lease. The trade-off is voids: an empty shop can stay empty for a year. LTV: 65% to 70%. Lender looks at: the tenant, the lease, interest cover, your experience.

Landlords buying semi-commercial property

A shop with one or more flats above, a pub with rooms, an office with a caretaker's flat. These are valued and taxed as non-residential (so no 5% stamp duty surcharge, no additional-property rates), escape the buy-to-let stress tests, and often have residential rent as a cushion if the commercial unit is empty. Many residential landlords move into them for exactly these reasons. LTV: 70% to 75%. Lender looks at: both income streams, the split of value between commercial and residential. Semi-commercial explained.

Owners refinancing, or raising money from the building

A fixed rate ending, a lender who has become expensive, a loan on a short term that needs re-spreading, or equity in the building that could fund expansion, buy out a partner, clear dearer debt or buy the next property. Commercial remortgages run on the same criteria as purchases; capital raising needs a sensible purpose stated. LTV: as for a purchase; capital raising often capped at 65% to 70%.

Pension schemes buying the business premises

A SIPP or SSAS can buy commercial property, including the premises of the scheme member's own business, and can borrow up to 50% of the scheme's net assets to do it. The business then pays a market rent to the pension, tax-free within the scheme, and the property sits outside the business and outside inheritance tax. A specialist structure with specialist lenders, and worth an accountant's and adviser's time before committing. Pension purchases explained.

First-time commercial buyers

People starting a business that needs premises, residential landlords buying their first commercial unit, or a family buying a going concern (a shop, a pub, a care home) with its property. Lenders want to see relevant experience, a bigger deposit (30% to 40%), a credible plan, and usually a personal guarantee. Buying a trading business with its accounts is much easier to finance than a new venture. What to expect.

Other common cases

• Buying the freehold of the building your business leases, often when the landlord offers it.
• Developers and investors refinancing a completed development onto a term loan.
• Farms and rural businesses buying land with buildings, diversifying into lets or leisure.
• Care, childcare and education operators buying the premises, often with a specialist lender.
• Holiday lets and hotels, which sit between residential and commercial and have lenders of their own.
• Auction purchases, where a 28-day completion means bridging first, commercial mortgage after. How that works.

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.