Specialist business mortgage broker for trading firms across Midlothian, Scotland

Being next to Edinburgh shapes the area. Many Midlothian companies serve customers in the city while keeping their base south of it, where a workshop or yard is easier to find. Typical buyers we would expect to hear from include builders and trades, vehicle repairers, light manufacturers, wholesalers, and professional practices such as dentists, vets and accountants who want to own their surgery or office.

The area also draws visitors. Rosslyn Chapel and Dalkeith Palace sit within the council area, as does part of the Pentland Hills Regional Park, so cafes, shops and hospitality businesses form part of the local economy. A lender values each building on how readily another business could use it, which is why standard units and high-street shops are usually the simplest to fund. Our page on professional practice mortgages covers surgeries and offices, and owner-occupier mortgages covers the general case.

The Borders Railway runs between Tweedbank and Edinburgh, with four stations in Midlothian: Shawfair, Eskbank, Newtongrange and Gorebridge. Alongside a modern road network and some rural single-track roads, it gives businesses near those stations an easy link to the capital for staff and customers.

A valuer takes location into account when deciding what a building is worth and how quickly it could be sold or let if the business moved on. Premises close to a station or a main road are generally easier for a lender to get comfortable with than a remote unit on a single-track road, although both can be funded where the trading figures support the loan.

Lenders active in owner-occupier lending usually advance 70 to 75% of the purchase price or valuation, whichever is lower, and up to 80% for strong cases. Indicative rates are 6.0 to 7.5% a year for owner-occupiers, subject to status, accounts and valuation, with terms of 5 to 25 years and arrangement fees typically 1 to 2%.

The purchase attracts Land and Buildings Transaction Tax rather than stamp duty. Revenue Scotland's non-residential bands are 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).

Illustrative example. A joinery company buys a freehold workshop near Dalkeith for £360,000. A 75% loan is £270,000, leaving a £90,000 deposit. LBTT is £6,500 (£1,000 on the middle slice plus 5% of £110,000), so the business needs about £96,500 in cash before legal and valuation fees. The commercial stamp duty guide sets out the bands for every UK nation.

Midlothian Council is the planning authority, and a lender's solicitor will check that the building's current use is lawful before funds are released. The contract is formed by missives, an exchange of letters between solicitors, and becomes binding once they conclude, so have the loan offer in place before that point. The lender's security is a standard security registered in the Land Register of Scotland, usually backed by a personal guarantee from the directors.

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 explains the national picture.