Specialist business mortgage broker for companies across Dumfries & Galloway

The region joins three historic shires: Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire, the last two together known as Galloway. They merged in 1975 as the Dumfries and Galloway Region, which became a single unitary authority in 1996. Its sub-areas run from Annandale, Eskdale and Nithsdale in the east to the Stewartry, the Machars and the Rhins of Galloway in the west, and market towns serve wide farming hinterlands.

That shapes what trading companies buy: agricultural merchants and engineers, vets, garages and machinery dealers, builders' yards, food and drink producers, and the hotels, shops and cafés that serve visitors to the Solway coast and the hills. In Dumfries, larger retail and business buildings have gathered near the bypass. An owner-occupier mortgage fits any of these when the business itself occupies the property.

The rivers that break through the Southern Uplands carry the region's main roads and railways. Nithsdale carries the A76 and the railway from Dumfries to Kilmarnock. Annandale is one of the principal routes into central Scotland from England, and the A701 leaves the M74 at Beattock, runs through Moffat and climbs past the Devil's Beef Tub towards Edinburgh. The Glenkens carries the A713 from Castle Douglas to Ayr, and the Cree valley carries the A714 from Newton Stewart to Girvan.

Premises on or near those corridors generally have a wider market of potential occupiers, which supports a valuation. A remote rural building can still be financed, but the valuer may be cautious, so a bigger deposit may be needed. Hospitality businesses, which depend on visitors, should expect lenders to examine trading through the winter.

With Cumbria across the border, some buyers here are English companies expanding north, and the rules change at the border. Scotland uses Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, not Stamp Duty Land Tax. For non-residential property Revenue Scotland charges 0% up to £150,000, 1% from £150,001 to £250,000 and 5% above £250,000 (rates as at October 2026; check the current rates before you buy). The purchase runs under Scots law and binds when missives conclude, and the lender takes a standard security registered with Registers of Scotland rather than an English legal charge. You need a Scottish solicitor and a lender set up for Scottish security.

Illustrative example. An agricultural engineering company buys a freehold workshop and yard for £420,000. A 75% loan is £315,000 and the deposit £105,000. LBTT is £9,500, so the business needs about £114,500 before fees. Our guide comparing LBTT and SDLT shows how the same price is taxed on each side of the border.

Lenders active in owner-occupier lending typically lend 70 to 75% of the price or valuation, up to 80% for strong cases, at indicative rates of 6.0 to 7.5% a year for owner-occupiers, subject to status, accounts and valuation. Terms run from 5 to 25 years with arrangement fees usually 1 to 2%.

Dumfries and Galloway Council is the planning authority for the whole region, and the lender's solicitor will check its records on the building's use. 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. Our Scotland commercial mortgages page covers the national picture.