Specialist business mortgage broker for companies in the City of Edinburgh

Edinburgh has the second-strongest economy of any UK city after London, and 43% of its population holds a degree-level or professional qualification, the highest share in the UK. In 2023 its GDP per capita of £69,809 passed London's for the first time. The public sector is central, with Scottish Government offices at St Andrew's House and Victoria Quay, and the other major sectors include administrative and support services, education, health and social care, scientific and technical services, and construction and manufacturing. The £1.3bn Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal, signed in 2018, funds Data Driven Innovation hubs built on the region's strengths in technology and data science.

So the buyers we expect are knowledge and service firms: solicitors, accountants, architects and engineers wanting their own office floor, technology companies, dental and veterinary practices, care providers, and construction and manufacturing businesses needing a yard or unit on the edge of the city. Professional practices often have their own lending route, set out on our professional practice mortgages page.

Tourism matters here. The Old and New Towns are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Edinburgh drew 5.3 million visits in 2023, including 2.4 million from overseas, and the August festivals attract over 4 million visitors and generate over £400M for the local economy. In July 2026 the city became the first in Scotland to introduce a visitor levy: 5% on overnight stays in hotels, self-catering, short-term lets, bed and breakfasts, guest houses and hostels, payable on the first five nights only.

For a hotel or guest house buying or refinancing its building, the lender is lending against a trading business. It will read the accounts, occupancy and room rates, and from now on it may ask how the business has priced and administered the levy. Indicative pricing for trading businesses such as hotels is 7.0 to 9.0% a year, subject to status, accounts and valuation, and the loan to value is often lower than for an office. Our business mortgages page explains how trading premises are assessed.

Lenders active in owner-occupier lending typically advance 70 to 75% of the lower of price and valuation, up to 80% for strong cases, at an indicative 6.0 to 7.5% a year over 5 to 25 years, with arrangement fees usually 1 to 2%, subject to status, accounts and valuation.

The purchase pays Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, not stamp duty. Revenue Scotland charges 0% on the first £150,000, then 1% to £250,000, then 5% on everything above that (rates as at October 2026; check the current rates before you buy).

Illustrative example. A firm of architects buys a New Town office floor for £700,000. A 75% loan is £525,000, leaving a £175,000 deposit. LBTT on £700,000 is £23,500, so the firm needs about £198,500 in cash before fees. Many central buildings are listed, so survey and legal costs can run higher; our guide to stamp duty on commercial property sets out the bands in full.

The City of Edinburgh Council handles planning across the council area, and in the World Heritage Site, managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999, listed building and conservation rules shape what you can change. A lender's solicitor will check that the use is lawful for your business, which matters for conversions such as an office becoming a clinic or a shop becoming a café.

Scots law governs the deal: missives are exchanged and concluded, the disposition is recorded in the Land Register of Scotland, and the lender's standard security is registered with Registers of Scotland. Lending to a limited company for the premises it trades from 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. See our Scotland premises finance page for the other council areas.