Berkshire, officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a ceremonial county in South East England with Reading as its county town and largest settlement. Wikipedia gives it an estimated population of 992,327 in 2024, concentrated in the east nearest Greater London, where Reading, Slough, Bracknell and Maidenhead sit. The west, around Newbury and the Berkshire Downs, is rural. That split runs straight through the economy: software development and high-tech industry dominate the east, while the west remains an agricultural region.
We are a broker, not a lender. We arrange business mortgages for limited companies buying or refinancing the premises they trade from anywhere in Berkshire, and we put the case to the lenders whose criteria fit. This is commercial finance secured on a trading company's own building. It is not a residential mortgage and it is not for buy-to-let investors.
What premises do Berks companies buy with an owner-occupier mortgage?
The east of the county carries one of the densest clusters of technology employers in England. Reading's history with International Computers Limited and Digital left Fujitsu and Hewlett-Packard with local operations, and Microsoft and Oracle later built multi-building campuses on the town's outskirts. Slough hosts the global headquarters of Reckitt Benckiser and the UK headquarters of Mars, while Bracknell has Waitrose's head office and central distribution centre on a 70-acre site on the Southern Industrial Estate.
Those household names are not the companies that come to us. The businesses that buy their own premises here are the suppliers and specialists that grew up around them: IT consultancies and software houses buying a small office building, engineering and electronics firms buying a light industrial unit, logistics operators buying a warehouse, and accountants, dentists and other practices buying a town-centre property. In the west, agricultural contractors, rural trade suppliers and equestrian businesses look for yards, barns converted to workshops and units on small estates.
Our owner-occupier mortgages page explains how a lender assesses a company buying the building it already runs from.
Software, consultancy and head offices: Berkshire's business mix
ONS UK Business Counts 2026, local units. Covers 6 council areas: Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham.
Show as a table
| Sector | Businesses | Berkshire share | UK share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional, scientific and technical | 8,290 | 16.5% | 14% |
| Information and communication | 6,115 | 12.1% | 6.1% |
| Construction and building trades | 5,885 | 11.7% | 12.6% |
| Business support services | 4,735 | 9.4% | 8.1% |
| Retail | 3,790 | 7.5% | 9.4% |
| Restaurants, cafes and pubs | 2,525 | 5% | 6.2% |
| Transport, logistics and storage | 2,405 | 4.8% | 4.2% |
| Health and social care | 2,390 | 4.7% | 5.6% |
| Wholesale | 1,995 | 4% | 3.7% |
- 2.4xsoftware and IT services4,765 businesses
- 1.8xtelecoms325 businesses
- 1.6xsport and leisure1,130 businesses
- 1.5xelectronics and optical equipment130 businesses
A figure of 2.0x means the trade makes up twice the share of local businesses that it does across the UK.
Across the six Berkshire unitary councils there are 50,400 business units, and the county's signature is technology. Information and communication makes up 12.1% of firms, almost twice the 6.1% UK share, with computer programming and consultancy at 2.42 times the national rate. Head offices and management consultancies are also over-represented at 1.47 times.
For premises finance, that means a lot of office buyers: firms that are often profitable but hold few hard assets beyond the building itself, so the accounts and the quality of the office do most of the work as security. Retail and hospitality are both under-represented here.
How does the M4 corridor shape commercial property loans in Berkshire, England?
The firms that spread out of Bracknell and Reading did so into the surrounding Thames Valley, or M4 corridor, drawing companies such as Cisco, Microsoft and Oracle. For an owner-occupier that matters in two ways. A building with good access to the motorway and to London tends to be easier for a valuer to compare with recent lettings and sales, and a lender takes comfort from a property another business could occupy if the borrower ever moved out.
Heavily fitted space, such as a laboratory or data room, is valued more cautiously than a plain office or industrial unit.
Berkshire premises: where the stock grew and what it is worth
Valuation Office Agency, non-domestic rating stock of properties, March 2026. Totals for Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham. Average rateable value is the VOA's estimate of annual rent, not a sale price.
- Industrial and warehouse6,210properties on the rating listUp 7.1% since 2016Average rateable value £70,000factories, workshops, warehouses and trade units
- Offices7,460properties on the rating listUp 3% since 2016Average rateable value £51,700offices, including converted buildings
- Shops and retail5,720properties on the rating listDown 1% since 2016Average rateable value £40,100shops, showrooms and retail warehouses
- Other commercial7,370properties on the rating listUp 24.3% since 2016Average rateable value £47,400pubs, hotels, surgeries, nurseries, garages and more
Berkshire parks and estates, from Green Park to Thurley
Named estates and parks listed on Google Maps near Berkshire, October 2026. Listed to show where premises trade locally; we have no connection with the owners or agents.
- Green Park Business Park100 Longwater Ave, Reading RG2 6GP
- Reading International Business ParkReading International Business Park, 0PN, Basingstoke Rd, Reading RG2 6AA
- Transcentral Business ParkReading RG2 0QX
- Acre Business ParkReading RG2 0SA
- Woodside Business ParkReading RG2 8LW
- British Estate Business ParkReading RG30 2EU
- Thurley Industrial EstateGrazeley, Reading RG7 1JN
- Nimrod Industrial EstateReading RG2 0EB
- Robert Cort Industrial EstateReading RG2 0AU
- Lambwood Industrial EstateReading RG7 1JF
- Wellington Industrial EstateSpencers Wood, Reading RG7 1AW
- Heron Industrial EstateSpencers Wood, Reading RG7 1PJ
Berkshire's rated premises rose 8.1% to 26,750 between 2016 and 2026. The biggest move was in other property, the category covering leisure, hotels and care, up 24.3%, while office numbers barely changed, up 3%. Industrial units grew 7.1% and carry an average rateable value of £70,000, a reminder that even a modest warehouse in this county can mean a substantial loan.
What does buying business property in the County of Berkshire cost up front?
Lenders active in owner-occupier lending usually advance 70 to 75% of the lower of price and valuation, with up to 80% for strong cases. Indicative pricing is 6.0 to 7.5% a year for owner-occupiers, over 5 to 25 years, with arrangement fees usually 1 to 2%, all subject to status, accounts and valuation. The deposit and the tax have to come from the business.
Berkshire is in England, so Stamp Duty Land Tax applies. HMRC's non-residential bands are 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 software company buys a two-storey office for £900,000. A 75% loan is £675,000, so the deposit is £225,000. SDLT on £900,000 comes to £34,500, which puts the cash needed at roughly £259,500 before legal and valuation fees. Our commercial stamp duty guide works through the bands in more detail.
Who are the planning councils for premises finance in Berkshire, UK?
Berkshire has no county council. Planning sits with six unitary authorities: Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Wokingham. The lender's solicitor will check that the building's current use is lawful with whichever of them covers the address, so planning history is worth gathering early, particularly for an office converted from industrial use or the reverse.
The lender takes a first legal charge over the property, registered at HM Land Registry, and usually asks for a debenture or personal guarantees from the directors. 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. For neighbouring counties, see our South East business mortgages page.
Owner-occupier finance in Berkshire's towns
Reading
The county town and largest settlement sits where the Kennet meets the Thames. Its economy rests on information technology, insurance and retail, with ING Direct and Hibu headquartered here and Prudential running an administration centre. Owner-occupiers range from consultancies buying office suites on its business parks to retailers and professional practices buying property in the town centre.
Slough
Slough became an industrial centre in the nineteenth century and now hosts European head offices for companies such as BlackBerry, alongside brands including Nintendo and Black & Decker. Dulux paint was made here by AkzoNobel until 2018, and the UK headquarters remains. The companies that buy here want industrial and trade units close to London, the motorways and Heathrow.
Bracknell
Designated a new town, Bracknell became a base for high-tech businesses such as Panasonic, Dell, Siemens and Honeywell, and it holds the UK headquarters of Honda and BMW. Waitrose has operated from the town since the 1970s. Local owner-occupiers are often electronics, IT services and distribution firms buying units on its industrial estates.
Newbury
The largest town in the rural west sits on the River Kennet and is home to Vodafone's headquarters campus, the town's largest employer. National Instruments, Micro Focus, NTS Express Road Haulage and the Newbury Building Society also operate here. Hauliers, engineers and service firms buy industrial units, while shops and offices change hands around the town centre.
Maidenhead and Windsor
Both towns stand on the Thames in the east of the county and share the Windsor and Maidenhead unitary authority. Windsor Castle, the monarch's official country residence, draws visitors, so hospitality, retail and professional services are prominent. Companies here tend to buy offices, shops and mixed-use buildings, and a flat above a shop makes the deal semi-commercial in a lender's eyes.
Compton and the Berkshire Downs
The chalk Downs in the west are the source of the River Kennet and remain agricultural. Compton, a small village roughly 10 miles from Newbury, is where the fine chemicals business Carbosynth was founded in 2006 before merging with Biosynth AG. Rural owner-occupiers here buy yards, converted farm buildings and specialist units, which lenders value with an eye on access and alternative use.
