Specialist business mortgage broker for companies across Kent, England

Kent's economy is split between heavy industry in the north and farming, tourism and services elsewhere. Wikipedia describes north Kent as heavily industrialised, with cement-making at Northfleet and Cuxton, brickmaking at Sittingbourne, shipbuilding on the Medway and Swale, engineering at Rochester, chemicals at Dartford, papermaking at Swanley and oil refining at Grain. At the 2001 census the largest sectors of employment were retail at 17.3% and manufacturing at 12.4%, and Kent was above the English average for construction and for transport and communications.

The county is also the "Garden of England", known for orchards, hop gardens and its oast houses, and it is the main area for hazelnut production in the UK. That mix produces owner-occupiers of every kind: builders and contractors buying yards, hauliers buying depots, food and fruit businesses buying packhouses, and retailers buying shops. An owner-occupier mortgage suits most of them; a business with a flat above its shop may need semi-commercial finance instead.

Kent has more motorway by distance than any other UK county: sections of the M2, M20, M25 and M26 total 173 km within its boundaries. The M20 runs from Swanley to Folkestone, the M2 from Medway to Faversham, and the M25 crosses from Westerham to the Dartford Crossing. Older routes still matter too. The A2 follows the Roman Watling Street through Dartford, Rochester and Canterbury to Dover, and the A21 runs past Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells towards Hastings.

With Dover and Folkestone the county's gateways to the continent, storage, haulage and freight-related premises are a big part of its commercial stock. A lender judges a depot or warehouse partly on access, so a building close to a junction on the M20 or M2 tends to be easier to fund than one down narrow lanes.

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

Illustrative example. A fruit-packing company buys a freehold packhouse and cold store for £1,000,000. A 75% loan is £750,000 and the deposit £250,000. SDLT comes to £39,500, so the business needs about £289,500 in cash before legal and valuation fees. Our guide to commercial stamp duty explains each slice.

For local government Kent is a non-metropolitan county with twelve districts, plus the unitary authority area of Medway. Planning sits with the district or Medway council for the site, and a lender's solicitor checks the building's lawful use before completion. The lender takes a first legal charge registered at HM Land Registry, often with a debenture or 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. Neighbouring counties are covered on our South East premises finance page.