Specialist commercial mortgage broker for firms across Hammersmith & Fulham

The borough's corporate occupiers are a who's who of international business. Sony Mobile Communications, Disney and L'Oréal have UK headquarters in Hammersmith, Capcom's European subsidiary moved to the Metro Building in 2011, and airlines including Iberia, All Nippon Airways at Hythe House and South African Airways have UK offices here. Virgin Group was based at The School House on Brook Green until 2013. Those firms lease; the owner-occupiers we expect to hear from are the smaller companies that cluster around them.

Media, marketing and technology agencies, consultancies, recruitment firms, architects and clinics buy self-contained office buildings and floors, while restaurants, cafes and independent shops buy their premises along the high streets of Fulham and Shepherd's Bush. Our page on owner-occupier mortgages describes what lenders want from a firm buying its own office.

Wikipedia counts the borough among the four most expensive in the UK for residential property, alongside Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster and Camden. That matters for business buyers because many commercial buildings here, from Fulham shopfronts to Hammersmith townhouses used as offices, contain or adjoin flats. A building with flats above is semi-commercial, funded up to around 75% loan to value at an indicative 6.5 to 8.5% a year, subject to status, accounts and valuation.

A valuer may also consider whether a small office building would be worth more converted to housing, which can support the valuation but does not change how the lender assesses your company's ability to repay. If you or a close family member will live in part of the property, the loan may become regulated. Our guide to semi-commercial premises covers how lenders split the two elements.

Lenders active in owner-occupier lending tend to advance 70 to 75% of the lower of price and valuation, with 80% possible for strong cases, at an indicative 6.0 to 7.5% a year over 5 to 25 years, subject to status, accounts and valuation. Restaurants and other trading businesses sit in a band of 7.0 to 9.0%. The borough is in England, so non-residential SDLT applies at 0% up to £150,000, 2% from £150,001 to £250,000 and 5% above £250,000 (HMRC, rates as at October 2026; check the current rates before you buy).

Illustrative example. A marketing agency buys a freehold office building near Hammersmith Broadway for £1,800,000. A 75% loan is £1,350,000, which leaves a £450,000 deposit. SDLT on that price comes to £79,500, so the agency needs about £529,500 in cash before fees. Our guide to commercial stamp duty works through each band.

The local council is Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council, and its planning records show whether an office, shop or restaurant has a lawful use. In a borough where townhouses have been turned into offices and offices back into homes, the lender's solicitor will check that position carefully before completion.

Transport helps a building's value. Hammersmith bus station, above the District and Piccadilly line tube station at Hammersmith Broadway, is a hub for much of London, and the borough has stations from White City and Wood Lane to Fulham Broadway, Parsons Green and Imperial Wharf. In Hammersmith or Fulham alike, the lender registers its first legal charge at HM Land Registry and will often want directors' guarantees. 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. Our London business mortgages page covers the neighbouring boroughs, including Ealing.