Specialist commercial mortgage broker for businesses across the County of Bedford

The county hosts the headquarters or major bases of a long list of names. Autoglass, Boxclever and Charles Wells Pubs are based in Bedford; the Kier Group and Kingspan Timber Solutions in Sandy; Jordans Cereals in Biggleswade. EasyJet, Impellam, TUI Airways and Vauxhall Motors are based in Luton, Whitbread in Houghton Regis and Costa Coffee in Dunstable, with UltraVision in Leighton Buzzard and Moto Hospitality at Toddington service station.

Around those employers sit many smaller firms in aviation services, food production, construction supply, engineering and hospitality. Their usual purchases are warehouses and trade units near the motorway junctions, offices in Luton and Bedford, and shops and restaurants in the market towns. Our owner-occupier mortgages page sets out how lenders judge a company buying the building it occupies.

Two of England's six main trunk roads cross the county. The A1, the Great North Road, runs close to Biggleswade and Sandy, and Watling Street, the Roman road from London to Chester, passes through Dunstable. Since 2017 the Bedfordshire section of the A5 has run from junction 11a of the M1 to rejoin Watling Street between Dunstable and Hockliffe. The M1 itself, opened in 1959, crosses the county from junction 10 to 13, with two junctions serving Luton, one for Dunstable via the A5, one for Flitwick and one for Bedford and Milton Keynes.

That network is why warehouses, trade counters and distribution units cluster near the M1 junctions and along the A1. For a lender, a unit with quick motorway access is generally easier to relet or sell, which supports the valuation and can help the loan to value.

Lenders active in owner-occupier lending typically advance 70 to 75% of the purchase price or valuation, whichever is lower, and up to 80% in strong cases. Indicative pricing is 6.0 to 7.5% a year, terms run 5 to 25 years and arrangement fees are usually 1 to 2%, all subject to status, accounts and valuation. Bedfordshire is in England, so Stamp Duty Land Tax applies at HMRC's non-residential rates: 0% up to £150,000, 2% from £150,001 to £250,000 and 5% above £250,000 (rates as at October 2026; check the current rates before you buy).

Illustrative example. A distribution company buys a freehold warehouse close to an M1 junction for £750,000. A 75% loan is £562,500, so the deposit is £187,500. SDLT on £750,000 is £27,000, leaving the business needing about £214,500 in cash before legal and valuation fees. Our guide to stamp duty on commercial property shows the calculation.

For local government Bedfordshire is split into three unitary authority areas: Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton. The council covering your site holds its planning history, and the lender's solicitor will confirm the building's lawful use before releasing funds. The lender registers a first legal charge at HM Land Registry, usually with a debenture or director guarantees.

Ground conditions vary across the county, from the chalk Chiltern Hills around Luton to the clays of the Marston Vale, long used for Fletton-style brick-making, and former gravel pits now turned into lakes. Valuers will note old workings and flood risk near the Great Ouse. Some directors buy premises through a pension scheme instead: our page on buying premises through a pension explains how SIPP and SSAS purchases work; these need a regulated pension adviser or scheme administrator, and we introduce rather than advise. Commercial lending to a limited company is unregulated and falls outside the FCA's regulated mortgage perimeter; where a deal would be regulated, for example lending to a sole trader or individual, or a property where the borrower or a close family member will live in part of it, we refer it to an appropriately authorised firm. Nearby counties are on our East of England page.