Specialist commercial mortgage broker for trading companies in Surrey, England

Surrey's economy leans heavily towards head offices. Wikipedia lists electronics firms such as Canon, Toshiba and Samsung, the motor importers Kia Motors and Toyota UK, the pharmaceutical groups Pfizer and Sanofi-Aventis, and Esso among the organisations based in the county, along with UK or European headquarters for consumer goods companies including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Nestlé and Colgate-Palmolive.

The companies that buy their own buildings are usually far smaller than those names, but many work around them: consultancies, IT firms, distributors and specialist manufacturers that want an office or a light industrial unit within easy reach of a client. Surgeries, professional firms and independent retailers make up much of the rest. For a company already paying rent on a self-contained office or unit, an owner-occupier mortgage turns that rent into repayments on an asset the business owns. Practices buying a surgery or professional office can also read our page on professional practice mortgages.

Three motorways cross the county. The M25 has eight junctions in Surrey, including a long cutting through the North Downs scarp at Reigate Hill. The M3 crosses the north-west on its way to Southampton, with junctions at Sunbury-on-Thames, Lightwater and Bagshot. The M23 heads south from the Merstham interchange towards Crawley and Brighton, with a spur to Gatwick Airport on the Surrey and Sussex border. The A3 between London and Portsmouth bypasses Haslemere, Godalming, Guildford and Esher and runs under Hindhead in a tunnel.

Those routes help explain why distribution, aviation-related and trade businesses look for premises close to the junctions and within reach of Heathrow and Gatwick. A lender valuing a unit always asks how easily it could be relet or sold if your company moved on, and strong road access usually helps that answer.

Much of Surrey sits in the Metropolitan Green Belt, and it is the most wooded county in England, with 22.4% tree cover against a national average of 11.8%. New commercial floorspace is hard to add, so buildings with an established business use carry weight. Planning decisions sit with the borough or district council for the site, with Surrey County Council above them, and a lender's solicitor will confirm the lawful use of the building before any money is released.

Lenders active in owner-occupier lending typically advance 70 to 75% of the price or valuation, whichever is lower, and up to 80% for strong cases. Indicative pricing is 6.0 to 7.5% a year subject to status, accounts and valuation. Surrey is in England, so Stamp Duty Land Tax applies to non-residential property 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 software consultancy buys a freehold office building for £800,000. A 75% loan is £600,000, so the deposit is £200,000. SDLT on £800,000 comes to £29,500, so the business needs about £229,500 before fees. Our commercial stamp duty guide sets out every band.

In England the lender takes a first legal charge over the building, registered at HM Land Registry, and often asks for a debenture over the company or personal guarantees from the directors. If a separate property company or a pension scheme will own the building, the paperwork changes, so we settle the structure first. A purchase through a SIPP or SSAS needs a regulated pension adviser or scheme administrator; we introduce, we do not 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. For Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the other counties around Surrey, see our South East business mortgages page.