Worthing is a seaside town and borough at the foot of the South Downs, 11 miles west of Brighton and 18 miles east of Chichester, with a population of 113,094. It is the second largest part of the Brighton and Hove built-up area. Once a mackerel fishing hamlet, it became a Georgian resort and later one of Britain's chief market gardening centres. Today its economy is dominated by services, particularly financial services.
We are a broker. We arrange business mortgages for limited companies buying or refinancing the commercial building they occupy in Worthing, and we never lend ourselves. A business mortgage is a long-term loan secured on the premises a trading company uses; it is not a residential mortgage on your home.
Which companies in Worthing, Sussex buy their premises with an owner-occupier mortgage?
Wikipedia lists major employers including GSK, LEMO electronics, Rayner Lenses, HM Revenue and Customs, the Environment Agency and Southern Water. In 2008 the town was in the top 10 urban areas in England for jobs in creative industries, high-tech industries and knowledge-intensive business services. That profile produces a particular buyer: accountants, financial advisers, design studios, software firms and electronics manufacturers that would rather own a freehold office or unit than keep paying rent.
Healthcare and personal services add dental and physiotherapy practices, while the seafront and town centre bring cafés, restaurants and shops. Practices and franchisees can use the specialist lending covered on our professional practice mortgages page.
Film makers and care providers: who trades in Worthing
ONS UK Business Counts 2026, local units.
Show as a table
| Sector | Businesses | Worthing share | UK share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional, scientific and technical | 675 | 14.3% | 13.9% |
| Construction and building trades | 655 | 13.9% | 12.5% |
| Retail | 455 | 9.7% | 9.4% |
| Information and communication | 435 | 9.2% | 6.1% |
| Health and social care | 380 | 8.1% | 5.7% |
| Business support services | 370 | 7.9% | 8.1% |
| Restaurants, cafes and pubs | 355 | 7.5% | 6.2% |
| Personal and other services | 215 | 4.6% | 4.1% |
| Property | 200 | 4.2% | 4.4% |
- 3.4xfilm, TV and music production180 businesses
- 2.1xresidential care110 businesses
- 1.4xsocial work and day care110 businesses
- 1.3xadvertising and market research50 businesses
A figure of 2.0x means the trade makes up twice the share of local businesses that it does across the UK.
Worthing's 4,715 business units include a surprising media cluster: film, TV and music production runs at 3.36 times the UK share, and information and communication makes up 9.2% of firms. Care is the other theme, with residential care homes at 2.14 times the national rate and health and social care at 8.1% of firms. A production company buying a studio is a standard owner-occupier case, while a care home is underwritten on beds and income, typically in the 7.0 to 9.0% band.
How does regeneration in the Worthing area affect commercial property finance?
In June 2006 Worthing Borough Council agreed a masterplan focused on the town centre and seafront. Proposals have covered Teville Gate, between the railway station and the A24, the Grafton Street car park area and the Guildbourne Centre, the town's main undercover shopping centre. Completed projects include the reopened Dome Cinema in 2007 and the Splash Point Leisure Centre in 2013.
For an owner-occupier this cuts both ways. A building near a regeneration site may gain footfall, but a valuer prices what exists today, not a scheme that may change. Lenders also check the planning record held by the council, so a shop or office whose use has changed over the years needs its consents in order before completion.
Worthing's premises: shops and offices down
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 warehouse480properties on the rating listUnchanged since 2016Average rateable value £36,000factories, workshops, warehouses and trade units
- Offices440properties on the rating listDown 8.3% since 2016Average rateable value £20,800offices, including converted buildings
- Shops and retail1,280properties on the rating listDown 1.5% since 2016Average rateable value £19,600shops, showrooms and retail warehouses
- Other commercial1,090properties on the rating listUp 21.1% since 2016Average rateable value £23,700pubs, hotels, surgeries, nurseries, garages and more
Worthing trading estates, from Northbrook to Hambridge
Named estates and parks listed on Google Maps near Worthing, October 2026. Listed to show where premises trade locally; we have no connection with the owners or agents.
- Timberlaine Trading EstateWorthing BN14 8ND
- Hambridge Trading EstateWorthing
- Worthing Business ParkWorthing BN14 8NT
- Silverdale Industrial EstateWorthing BN11 2RZ
- Northbrook Trading EstateWorthing BN14 8PN
- Northbrook Business ParkWorthing BN14 8PQ
- Garcia Trading EstateWorthing
- Oakland WorksWorthing BN11 5LJ
- Oaklands Business ParkWorthing BN11 5LH
- Downland Business ParkLyons Way, Worthing BN14 9LA
- Download Business ParkWorthing BN14 9LA
- Chartwell Business CentreLancing BN15 8FB
Worthing's office count fell 8.3% since 2016 to 440, and shops fell 1.5%. Industrial units held steady at 480, with an average rateable value of £36,000. Other property, which includes care homes and leisure, rose 21.1%. Limited industrial supply means a firm wanting to own on Northbrook or Hambridge estates may need to act fast when a unit comes up.
What will a business property loan in Worthing, England need in cash?
Lenders active in this market usually lend 70 to 75% of the purchase price, up to 80% for strong cases, at indicative rates of 6.0 to 7.5% a year for owner-occupiers. Terms run 5 to 25 years and arrangement fees are typically 1 to 2%, all subject to status, accounts and valuation. Stamp Duty Land Tax applies at HMRC's non-residential rates of 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. An accountancy practice buys a town-centre office for £350,000. With a 75% loan of £262,500, the deposit is £87,500. SDLT is £7,000, so the firm needs £94,500 in cash before legal and valuation fees.
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 a shop with a flat above, see our semi-commercial premises page, and for the rest of the county our West Sussex page.
Worthing districts and nearby places
Town centre and seafront
The commercial core runs from the station down to the Art Deco pier, taking in the Guildbourne Centre, Montague Place and the Dome Cinema. Retailers, restaurants, salons and professional firms buy freehold shops and upper-floor offices here, and many older buildings combine a shop with flats above.
Teville Gate
The northern approach to the town centre, between Worthing railway station and the A24. It has long been earmarked for large-scale redevelopment, and a £5.5 million mixed-use scheme was completed on a former hotel site nearby. Office occupiers value the rail and road access.
Goring
Part of the rape of Arundel historically, Goring was incorporated into Worthing in 1929 and sits on its western side. Its parades of local shops, cafés and small practices make it a typical place for a family company to buy the premises it already trades from.
Durrington
A western suburb at one end of the PULSE route to Lancing, the town's most frequent bus service. Neighbourhood retail and service businesses, plus small workshops, make up most of the commercial stock that local owner-occupiers look at.
Lancing
East of the borough in neighbouring Adur and part of Worthing's primary urban area, which Centre for Cities says stretches from Littlehampton to Lancing. Industrial units and trade premises here suit manufacturers and contractors who need A27 access.
