Specialist commercial mortgage broker for companies across Northern Ireland

Stamp Duty Land Tax is a tax on land transactions in England and Northern Ireland, introduced by the Finance Act 2003. Scotland and Wales have their own taxes; Northern Ireland does not, so a commercial property purchase here is taxed exactly as it would be in England.

Non-residential SDLT is charged in slices. Source: HMRC (gov.uk, SDLT rates for non-residential and mixed land and property). Rates as at October 2026; check the current rates before you buy.

Illustrative example. On a £500,000 freehold unit with no VAT, SDLT is £14,500. The return must be filed and the tax paid within 14 days of completion, half the time allowed in Scotland and Wales, so the money needs to be with your solicitor before completion day. Lenders do not lend the tax. A shop with a flat above is taxed at the same non-residential rates. Our guide to stamp duty on commercial property compares the four UK nations.

Land records for Northern Ireland are maintained by Land and Property Services (LPS), an agency of the Department of Finance of the Northern Ireland Executive created in 2008, which also includes the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland. HM Land Registry covers England and Wales only.

For a business mortgage that has practical effects:

• your solicitor needs to be qualified in Northern Ireland, because it is a separate legal jurisdiction from England and Wales and from Scotland
• the lender's charge over the property is registered through LPS, not HM Land Registry
• the lender's own solicitors must be able to act on Northern Ireland security

Not every lender's criteria extend to every part of the UK, so we confirm early that the lender covers commercial property in Northern Ireland and that its legal process is set up for it. That avoids a credit approval that later stalls at the legal stage.

In 2019, 53% of Northern Ireland's GVA came from the services sector, 22% from the public sector, 15% from production, 8% from construction and 2% from agriculture. The economy was traditionally industrial, built on shipbuilding, rope manufacture and textiles, and Belfast's 81-acre shipyard has the largest dry dock in Europe. Belfast is now described as the UK's second largest tech hub outside London, with more than 25% of jobs technology related, and tourism brought 5.3 million visitors in 2019 who spent over £1 billion.

The business premises we see financed reflect that mix:

• offices for technology, professional and service businesses
• industrial units and workshops for manufacturing, engineering and construction firms
• hotels, pubs, restaurants and visitor businesses, priced as trading businesses at typically 7.0 to 9.0% a year, indicative
• dental, veterinary and medical practices, and franchise outlets
• shops with living space above, covered on our page on semi-commercial premises

For an owner-occupier mortgage the usual terms are:

• Loan to value: typically 70 to 75%, up to 80% for strong cases, so a deposit of 25 to 30%.
• Indicative rates: 6.0 to 7.5% a year, indicative, subject to status, accounts and valuation. Refinancing existing premises runs 6.0 to 8.0% a year.
• Term: 5 to 25 years, some to 30, with monthly repayments of capital and interest.
• Fees: arrangement fees typically 1 to 2%, plus valuation and legal fees.

Lenders assess the business first: filed accounts at Companies House, management figures, how comfortably profit covers the loan repayments, and the directors' credit. The property secures the loan, but it is not the reason to lend, and lender products differ on rate, fees and early repayment terms, so we compare them. A company with a self-administered pension scheme can also consider buying premises through a pension, with the scheme buying the building and the business paying it rent; that route needs a regulated pension adviser or scheme administrator, and we introduce rather than advise.

We review the accounts, the property and the purchase timetable, then compare commercial mortgages and secured business loans from high-street banks and specialist lenders whose criteria fit the business and the building. We prepare the case for the lender's credit team, answer their questions and keep your Northern Ireland solicitor and the valuer working to the same completion date. If your business also has premises in Great Britain, our page on business mortgages in England covers the same SDLT on that side.

Commercial lending to a limited company is unregulated and falls outside the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) 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 are not tax or legal advisers.