Woking is a town and borough in north-west Surrey, about 23 miles from central London. The modern town only dates from the 1860s, when the London Necropolis Company sold land around the new railway station for development. Today the borough covers 64 square kilometres, had a population of 103,900 in 2021, and stretches from Knaphill in the west to Byfleet in the east.
We arrange business mortgages for limited companies buying or refinancing the premises they trade from in Woking. We are a broker and never lend. This is finance secured on your company's own building, not a residential mortgage.
Which Woking companies buy premises with an owner-occupier mortgage?
Woking's economy is strong by national standards. Lambert Smith Hampton ranked the borough first in its UK Vitality Index of Local Authorities in 2021, and Wikipedia records that 14% of the working-age population were self-employed in the 2015 to 2016 Annual Population Survey, above the Surrey average. In the mid-2010s the biggest employers by sector were information technology, food and beverage services, and motor vehicle design and manufacture, with further clusters in oil and gas, financial and business services, and environmental technologies.
Those sectors translate into demand for offices, engineering workshops, restaurants and cafes. A company with steady profits and a few years of accounts can use an owner-occupier mortgage to buy the building instead of renewing a lease.
Studios, software and engineering firms in Woking
ONS UK Business Counts 2026, local units.
Show as a table
| Sector | Businesses | Woking share | UK share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional, scientific and technical | 1,090 | 20.4% | 14% |
| Construction and building trades | 585 | 10.9% | 12.5% |
| Information and communication | 575 | 10.7% | 6.1% |
| Business support services | 560 | 10.5% | 8.1% |
| Retail | 385 | 7.2% | 9.4% |
| Health and social care | 320 | 6% | 5.7% |
| Restaurants, cafes and pubs | 275 | 5.1% | 6.1% |
| Personal and other services | 225 | 4.2% | 4.1% |
| Transport, logistics and storage | 205 | 3.8% | 4.2% |
- 2.0xfilm, TV and music production125 businesses
- 1.8xsoftware and IT services385 businesses
- 1.8xmanagement consultancy495 businesses
- 1.6xarchitecture and engineering230 businesses
A figure of 2.0x means the trade makes up twice the share of local businesses that it does across the UK.
Woking has 5,375 business units, and one in five, 20.4%, is a professional, scientific or technical firm. Architecture and engineering consultancies run at 1.62 times the UK share, computer programming at 1.84 times and film, TV and music production at 2.05 times. Information and communication makes up 10.7% of firms. For engineering and design practices, owning a studio or office protects them from rent rises in a commuter town where space is limited by the Green Belt. Construction is under-represented at 10.9%.
Railway, canal and Green Belt: premises finance in the Woking area
The town grew around its station on the London to Southampton line, and the main shopping and office space lies between the railway and the Basingstoke Canal. The two shopping centres, Victoria Place and Peacocks, adjoin Jubilee Square, and Victoria Square was completed in 2022 with two residential towers and a 23-storey hotel.
Around 60% of the borough is Metropolitan Green Belt, and some former industrial buildings have been converted to apartments. Both trends make established commercial premises harder to replace, which is worth knowing when you weigh up buying versus renting. Valuers look closely at whether a building near the station would attract another occupier.
Woking's stock: few units, high values
Valuation Office Agency, non-domestic rating stock of properties, March 2026. Average rateable value is the VOA's estimate of annual rent, not a sale price.
- Industrial and warehouse470properties on the rating listUnchanged since 2016Average rateable value £79,400factories, workshops, warehouses and trade units
- Offices740properties on the rating listDown 2.6% since 2016Average rateable value £42,400offices, including converted buildings
- Shops and retail730properties on the rating listDown 7.6% since 2016Average rateable value £37,900shops, showrooms and retail warehouses
- Other commercial850properties on the rating listUp 37.1% since 2016Average rateable value £32,900pubs, hotels, surgeries, nurseries, garages and more
Woking units to own: Goldsworth Road, Wintonleas and Genesis
Named estates and parks listed on Google Maps near Woking, October 2026. Listed to show where premises trade locally; we have no connection with the owners or agents.
- Woking WorksGloucester Square, Woking GU21 6YL
- Wintonleas Industrial EstateWoking GU21 5EN
- Goldsworth Road Industrial EstateWoking GU21 6LY
- Goldsworth Industrial EstateWoking GU21 6LY
- Winton Lea Industrial EstateWoking GU21 5EN
- Woking Business ParkWoking GU21 5JU
- Genesis Business ParkWoking GU21 5RW
- Orchard Business ParkWoking GU21 5SB
- Ochard Business ParkWoking
- Goldsworth Park Trading EstateWoking GU21 3BA
- Tannery Business CentreTannery Ln, Send, Woking GU23 7EF
- Martlands Industrial EstateWoking GU22 0RQ
Woking has only 470 industrial units, exactly the same number as in 2016, and they average £79,400 in rateable value. Offices fell 2.6% and shops 7.6%, while other property rose 37.1%. A trade or engineering firm looking for a workshop has very little choice, so when a suitable unit comes up for sale, finance that is ready to move quickly matters.
What does a commercial property loan in Woking, Surrey cost?
Owner-occupier lenders typically lend 70 to 75% of the price or valuation, at indicative rates of 6.0 to 7.5% a year with arrangement fees of 1 to 2%, subject to status, accounts and valuation. Stamp Duty Land Tax on non-residential property is 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. An environmental consultancy buys a freehold office for £450,000. A 75% loan is £337,500 and the deposit £112,500. SDLT is £12,000, so the company needs around £124,500 before fees. See our costs page for legal and valuation fees.
Does the council's position affect refinancing business premises in Woking, UK?
Wikipedia records that in June 2023 Woking council declared bankruptcy with a £1.2bn deficit linked to investments in hotels and skyscrapers, and that government commissioners were appointed to oversee it. For a trading company buying or refinancing its own building, the lender's security is still a first legal charge registered at HM Land Registry, and planning searches go through the borough council as normal. 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. Nearby options are on our Surrey commercial mortgages page.
Owner-occupier finance across the Borough of Woking
Woking town centre
Most of the centre dates from the 20th and 21st centuries, with offices and shops packed between the station and the Basingstoke Canal around Victoria Place, Peacocks Shopping Centre and Jubilee Square. Office suites and ground-floor shops here suit professional firms, IT businesses and food and drink operators.
Byfleet and West Byfleet
Distinct settlements on the eastern side of the borough, joined to Woking's urban area since the 1930s. Their high streets carry shops, surgeries and small offices, and their position towards the M25 suits trades and service firms that need to reach customers across north Surrey.
Knaphill and Brookwood
Knaphill marks the western end of the main built-up area, and Brookwood keeps its own village identity just beyond. Premises here are mostly local shops, workshops and small business units, the kind of property owner-run trades buy to stop paying rent.
Old Woking
The original settlement lies about a mile south of the town centre near the River Wey, around St Peter's Church. Its older street plan holds period buildings with commercial ground floors, which lenders often treat as semi-commercial if there is a flat above.
Sheerwater
Wikipedia notes that two areas of Sheerwater are the most deprived parts of Surrey, a reminder that the borough's prosperity is uneven. Local businesses here, often small shops and service firms, can still buy their premises; lenders look at the company's accounts and the building rather than the postcode.
