Specialist commercial mortgage broker for trading businesses across Cumbria, England

Tourism is the county's largest and most widespread industry. Cumbria attracts over 47 million visitors a year, the Lake District National Park alone receives some 15.8 million, and more than 36,000 Cumbrians work in tourism, which adds £1.1 billion a year to the county's economy. Yet fewer than 50,000 people live permanently inside the Lake District, mostly in Ambleside, Bowness-on-Windermere, Coniston, Grasmere, Keswick and Windermere.

For an owner-occupier that translates into hotels, guest houses, cafés, outdoor shops and activity centres, many in older stone buildings inside a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lenders read a hotel's or café's trading accounts as closely as the valuation, and the indicative band is 7.0 to 9.0% a year, subject to status, accounts and valuation. Where the building includes owner's accommodation, our page on semi-commercial premises explains how lenders approach it. 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.

Away from the fells, the county's economy rests on some very large industrial employers. BAE Systems in Barrow is the largest private employer, with around 14,500 staff and further growth expected from new contracts, and the Sellafield nuclear processing site has a workforce of 10,000. Workington and Whitehaven sit on the west coast; Barrow is on the south coast at the tip of the Furness peninsula, beside one of the country's largest shipbuilding centres.

Smaller companies around those sites, such as fabricators, electrical contractors, plant hire firms and specialist engineers, often reach the point where renting a unit no longer makes sense. A loan against a workshop or industrial unit is one of the cleaner cases a lender sees: indicative pricing of 6.0 to 7.5% a year for an owner-occupier, typically at 70 to 75% loan to value, subject to status, accounts and valuation.

Cumbria is in England, so a purchase pays Stamp Duty Land Tax to HMRC at the non-residential rates: 0% on the first £150,000, 2% on the slice from £150,001 to £250,000 and 5% above £250,000 (HMRC, rates as at October 2026; check the current rates before you buy). The lender's security is a legal charge registered at HM Land Registry, and your solicitor files the SDLT return within 14 days of completion.

For local government the county is split between two unitary areas, Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness, whose councils collaborate through the Cumbria Combined Authority. Planning questions go to whichever council covers the site. If the building sits inside the Lake District or Yorkshire Dales national park, ask your solicitor to confirm the permitted use before you exchange.

Illustrative example. An engineering company buys a freehold workshop for £400,000. At 75% loan to value the loan is £300,000 and the deposit £100,000. SDLT comes to £9,500: nothing on the first £150,000, £2,000 on the next £100,000 and £7,500 on the remaining £150,000, all payable in cash alongside legal and valuation fees. Our guide to stamp duty on commercial property walks through the bands.

Many owner-managed companies here already own their building, on a loan nearing the end of its fixed period, or outright with capital they want to release. Remortgaging is indicatively priced at 6.0 to 8.0% a year, subject to status, accounts and valuation.

The M6 is the only motorway through the county; Kendal and Penrith are among its primary destinations, and north of Carlisle it becomes the A74(M). Premises close to that spine usually have plenty of comparable evidence for a valuer, while a building in a remote dale may need a longer valuation and a lender comfortable with rural stock. Read more on remortgaging business premises.