Specialist commercial mortgage broker for companies across Yorkshire and Humberside

In the Yorkshire Forward era, around 270,000 businesses contributed to a regional economy worth in excess of £80 billion. That economy is not evenly spread. Leeds is a centre of financial services and has a much higher average GVA than most of South Yorkshire, while Sheffield and the towns of South Yorkshire keep a deep engineering and manufacturing base.

The result is two quite different property markets inside one region. West Yorkshire has a large office and professional services sector alongside textile-era mills now used by manufacturers, wholesalers and creative firms. South Yorkshire and the Humber lean towards industrial, port and process businesses, where a building's value is closely tied to the industry around it.

Across the region, owner-occupier purchases tend to fall into these groups.

• Industrial units and mills: engineering, fabrication and steel-related firms in Sheffield, Rotherham and Scunthorpe, and manufacturers in converted mill buildings in Bradford, Halifax and Huddersfield.
• Warehouses and trade counters: distribution and wholesale firms along the M1, M62 and A1(M), especially around Wakefield and Doncaster.
• Offices: financial and professional firms in Leeds, and smaller freehold offices in York, Harrogate and Sheffield.
• Retail and semi-commercial: shops with flats above in market towns and city suburbs. Our page on semi-commercial premises explains how lenders treat them; indicative pricing is 6.5 to 8.5% a year, up to 75% loan to value, subject to status, accounts and valuation.
• Healthcare and hospitality: dental and veterinary practices across the region, and hotels, pubs and restaurants in York and the Dales.

Mill buildings deserve a note. They are often large, multi-storey and listed, so lenders look closely at condition and how easily the space would relet. A standard business mortgage for an owner-occupier is indicatively 6.0 to 7.5% a year, typically at 70 to 75% loan to value, subject to status, accounts and valuation.

The Humber is heavy industry on a national scale. 29% of the UK's oil is refined on the Humber, Scunthorpe has the largest steelworks in the UK, operated by British Steel, and Drax power station in the Aire Valley is stated to be the second largest in Europe. Around them sits a supply chain of maintenance, fabrication, haulage, scaffolding and specialist engineering firms, many of which occupy their own yards and workshops.

For those firms, the question lenders ask is concentration. If most of a company's income comes from one refinery, steelworks or power station, the lender will want to understand the contracts, their length and what happens if one ends. We set that out in the credit case at the start, with the order book and customer history, rather than waiting for the lender to raise it.

The whole region is in England, so Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is payable to HMRC on a purchase. Non-residential and mixed-use rates are 0% up to £150,000, 2% from £150,001 to £250,000 and 5% above £250,000 (HMRC, gov.uk; rates as at October 2026; check the current rates before you buy). Our guide to commercial stamp duty covers leases, VAT and mixed-use buildings.

Under English law the lender takes a mortgage by legal charge, registered with HM Land Registry together with the transfer. 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. We also cover the neighbouring North East and North West.