Irvine is a coastal town and former royal burgh on the Firth of Clyde, overlooking Irvine Bay. In 2022 it had 33,998 residents, making it the largest settlement in North Ayrshire and the 22nd largest in Scotland. It was designated Scotland's fifth and final new town in November 1966, yet its history runs back to the 12th century, when it was the military capital of Hugh de Morville, Lord High Constable of Scotland. North Ayrshire Council is headquartered here at Cunninghame House.
We are a broker, never a lender. We arrange business mortgages for limited companies buying or refinancing the premises they trade from in Irvine. This is commercial finance secured on your company's own building, not a residential mortgage, and we take your case to the lenders whose criteria suit it.
Which premises do Irvine companies buy with premises finance?
New town status shaped the place: planned residential areas, a planned town centre and land set aside for employment. The result is a stock of purpose-built commercial property alongside older buildings in the historic core around the Glasgow Vennel, where Robert Burns once worked as a flax-dresser. Regeneration of the town centre is under way.
For a trading company, that typically means one of three purchases: an industrial or warehouse unit on the town's employment land, a shop or office in the town centre, or a mixed-use building with accommodation above. Purpose-built units are generally straightforward for a lender because another occupier could take them over easily. Our owner-occupier mortgages page explains how lenders assess a company buying its own premises.
What Irvine firms trade in: makers, retailers and leisure
ONS UK Business Counts 2026, local units. Figures are for the North Ayrshire local authority area.
Show as a table
| Sector | Businesses | Irvine share | UK share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail | 475 | 12.3% | 9.4% |
| Construction and building trades | 465 | 12% | 12.5% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 340 | 8.8% | 14% |
| Restaurants, cafes and pubs | 310 | 8% | 6.2% |
| Business support services | 265 | 6.8% | 8.1% |
| Health and social care | 250 | 6.5% | 5.7% |
| Farming, forestry and fishing | 245 | 6.3% | 4.4% |
| Personal and other services | 210 | 5.4% | 4.1% |
| Manufacturing and engineering | 205 | 5.3% | 4.3% |
- 2.2xhotels and accommodation70 businesses
- 1.6xsport and leisure90 businesses
- 1.5xpublic administration45 businesses
- 1.5xfabricated metal products40 businesses
A figure of 2.0x means the trade makes up twice the share of local businesses that it does across the UK.
Irvine is the largest town in a North Ayrshire business base of 3,885 units, with 725 small and medium firms and 15 large employers. Manufacturing and engineering makes up 5.3% of local businesses, 1.24 times the UK share, and the new town's estates were laid out for exactly that kind of occupier.
Personal and other services run at 5.4% against 4.1%, and sports and recreation businesses at 1.61 times the national share. A gym or leisure operator buying its unit is assessed partly on membership income, while a manufacturer on Heatherhouse or Oldhall is judged mainly on the accounts and the building.
How do transport links affect a commercial property loan in Irvine, Ayrshire?
Irvine lies about 25 miles south-west of Glasgow on very flat land crossed by the River Irvine and the Annick Water. Its railway station, at the west end of the town, is on the main line between Glasgow and Stranraer, served by ScotRail. Stagecoach South Scotland runs frequent buses to Ardrossan, Largs, Kilmarnock, Ayr, Troon and Glasgow, and the A78 coastal road serves the town along with other arterial routes.
One crossing over the River Irvine, on the site of the old Irvine to Kilmarnock railway, was long criticised for being unsuitable for heavy traffic; North Ayrshire Council renewed it in a £2m project between 2007 and 2010. For a buyer, the practical point is that access for vans and lorries, parking and the route to the main roads all feed into how a valuer judges an industrial or trade unit.
Irvine estates from Heatherhouse to Meadowhead and Kyle Business Park
Named estates and parks listed on Google Maps near Irvine, October 2026. Listed to show where premises trade locally; we have no connection with the owners or agents.
- South Newmoor Industrial EstateIrvine
- Heatherhouse Industrial EstateIrvine KA12 8HN
- Kyle Business ParkIrvine KA12 8JJ
- Irvine Industrial EstateIrvine
- Old Hall West Industrial Estate6 McMillan Pl, Irvine KA11 5DB
- Riverside Business ParkIrvine KA11 5DP
- Meadowhead Industrial EstateMeadowhead Industrial Estate, Irvine KA11 5AU
- Olympic Business ParkDundonald, Drybridge, Kilmarnock KA2 9AE
- Drybridge Industrial EstateKilmarnock KA2 9BY
- Moorfield Industrial ParkKilmarnock KA2 0FE
- Moorfield Industrial EstateKilmarnock KA2 0BA
- Annandale Industrial EstateKilmarnock KA1 2RT
What does an owner-occupier mortgage in Irvine New Town cost, and how is it secured?
Lenders active in owner-occupier lending typically advance 70 to 75% of the price or valuation, whichever is lower, and up to 80% for strong cases. Indicative pricing is 6.0 to 7.5% a year, subject to status, accounts and valuation, with terms of 5 to 25 years and arrangement fees usually 1 to 2%.
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax applies. Revenue Scotland charges non-residential LBTT at 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 packaging distributor buys a freehold warehouse unit for £300,000. A 75% loan is £225,000 and the deposit £75,000. LBTT is £3,500, so the company needs around £78,500 in cash before legal and valuation fees. The commercial stamp duty guide shows the bands side by side.
North Ayrshire Council is the planning authority. Under Scots law the contract is formed by missives, and the lender takes a standard security registered in the Land Register of Scotland. 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. For other towns nearby, see business mortgages in North Ayrshire.
Irvine's business districts and neighbourhoods
Town centre and the Glasgow Vennel
The historic core around the Glasgow Vennel, where Burns worked in a heckling shop, sits alongside the new town's planned centre. Regeneration is under way, and shops, cafes, professional offices and service businesses buy units here, sometimes in older buildings with upper floors.
Irvine Harbour
Irvine Harbour, on the coast at the mouth of the river, has a different character from the town centre, with leisure and hospitality uses alongside older harbour buildings. Businesses buying here tend to be cafes, bars and visitor-facing firms, which lenders price as trading businesses.
Dreghorn
Dreghorn, on the eastern side of Irvine, is an older village absorbed into the new town's growth. Its commercial property is mainly local shops and services, suiting small firms that want to own a modest unit close to residential customers.
Girdle Toll
Girdle Toll is one of the new town's planned residential neighbourhoods to the north. Like the other planned areas, it has neighbourhood shopping and service units, which suit local retailers, food businesses and health practices buying their own premises.
Bourtreehill and Broomlands
These new town neighbourhoods to the south and east were built around local centres with shops and community facilities. Pharmacies, convenience stores and small service businesses are the typical buyers, and a lender will value the unit on its local trade.
