Perth is a city on the banks of the River Tay, the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross and the historic county town of Perthshire, with a population of 47,893 in 2022. King William the Lion made it a royal burgh in the early 12th century, and it became one of the richest burghs in the country, trading with France, the Low Countries and the Baltic. Sir Walter Scott's novel Fair Maid of Perth gave it the name "The Fair City", and it promotes itself as the "Gateway to the Highlands".
We are a broker, never a lender. We arrange business mortgages for limited companies that want to buy or refinance the premises they trade from in Perth. This is commercial finance secured on your company's own building, not a residential mortgage, and we take the case to the lenders whose criteria fit.
What kind of economy supports an owner-occupier mortgage in Perth, Scotland?
Wikipedia describes the strength of Perth's economy as its diversity: large companies, the public sector, a broad range of small and medium-sized enterprises and many self-employed people. Perth and Kinross Council is the largest employer with 6,000 staff, followed by NHS Tayside, SSE plc and Perth College UHI, and Stagecoach Group has its global headquarters in the city. General Accident was once headquartered here; since its merger into Aviva the office has been used mainly as a call centre. Renewable energy, insurance, manufacturing, leisure, health and transport are all creating jobs.
The city also has an enterprising culture, averaging 42.6 registered enterprises per 10,000 residents against a Scottish average of 30.1. For us that means a wide range of companies wanting to own their premises: professional firms buying offices, retailers buying shops, and manufacturers and contractors buying industrial units. Our owner-occupier mortgages page explains how lenders assess the case.
Perth and Kinross trades: hotels, farms and forestry firms
ONS UK Business Counts 2026, local units. Figures are for the Perth and Kinross local authority area.
Show as a table
| Sector | Businesses | Perth share | UK share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farming, forestry and fishing | 980 | 13.2% | 4.4% |
| Construction and building trades | 935 | 12.6% | 12.5% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 850 | 11.5% | 13.9% |
| Retail | 680 | 9.2% | 9.4% |
| Business support services | 485 | 6.6% | 8.1% |
| Restaurants, cafes and pubs | 420 | 5.7% | 6.3% |
| Health and social care | 370 | 5% | 5.6% |
| Manufacturing and engineering | 300 | 4.1% | 4.3% |
| Personal and other services | 290 | 3.9% | 4.1% |
- 8.3xforestry100 businesses
- 4.4xhotels and accommodation270 businesses
- 4.2xenergy supply75 businesses
- 2.8xfarming860 businesses
A figure of 2.0x means the trade makes up twice the share of local businesses that it does across the UK.
The figures here cover the whole of Perth and Kinross, and they read like a rural economy with a busy county town at its centre. Farming, forestry and fishing account for 13.2% of local businesses against 4.4% nationally, and forestry and logging alone runs at more than eight times the UK share. Hotels and accommodation, at 3.6% of firms, are 4.4 times as common as across the UK.
For a Perth hotel buying or refinancing its building, that matters. The lender assesses the trade as well as the bricks, so room revenue and occupancy carry as much weight as the valuation, with pricing usually in the 7.0 to 9.0% band.
Which parts of the Fair City suit a commercial property loan?
The city centre lies on the west bank of the Tay. The pedestrianised High Street, from St John Street to Scott Street, is the main shopping focus, with major retailers on the High Street, St John Street and in the St John's Centre, and independent shops on George Street, St John Street, Princes Street, Methven Street, the Old High Street and Canal Street. To the north-west, a retail park built in 1988 on St Catherine's Road provides eight purpose-built units.
Many city-centre buildings have offices or flats on upper floors. A shop with a flat above is semi-commercial, typically up to 75% loan to value at indicative rates of 6.5 to 8.5% a year, subject to status, accounts and valuation; see our semi-commercial premises page. For road-based businesses, the M90 to Edinburgh and the A9 to Stirling and Inverness meet at Broxden Junction, so units with easy access to it are attractive to distributors and trades.
Perth premises from Inveralmond to Broxden Business Park
Named estates and parks listed on Google Maps near Perth, October 2026. Listed to show where premises trade locally; we have no connection with the owners or agents.
- Algo Business CentrePerth PH2 0NJ
- Riverview Business ParkPerth PH2 8DF
- King James VI Business CentrePerth PH2 8DY
- Arran House Business ParkPerth PH1 3DZ
- Inchcape Place N Muirton Industrial EstatePerth PH1 3DU
- Inveralmond Business CentrePerth PH1 3FX
- Broxden Business ParkPerth PH1 1RA
- Almondgrove Place Inveralmond Industrial EstatePerth PH1 3TR
- Inveralmond Industrial EstatePerth
- Iveralmond Industrial EstatePerth PH1 3EE
What does premises finance in Perth, Perthshire 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 is collected by Revenue Scotland: 0% up to £150,000, 1% from £150,001 to £250,000 and 5% above £250,000 on non-residential property (rates as at October 2026; check the current rates before you buy).
Illustrative example. An insurance broker buys a freehold office building in the city centre for £800,000. A 75% loan is £600,000 and the deposit £200,000. LBTT is £28,500, so the firm needs roughly £228,500 in cash before fees. The commercial stamp duty guide covers the bands.
Perth and Kinross Council is the planning authority. Missives conclude the contract under Scots law, and the lender's standard security is 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 towns across the wider area, see business mortgages in Perth and Kinross.
Perth's business districts
High Street and the St John's Centre
The pedestrianised High Street and the St John's Centre hold the city's major retailers. Owner-occupiers here are typically retailers, cafes and service businesses buying a ground-floor unit, often with upper floors that a lender will want to understand before it classes the building.
George Street and the Old High Street
These streets, along with Princes Street, Methven Street and Canal Street, are home to Perth's independent retailers. Smaller shop units in older buildings come up here, suiting independent businesses that want security of tenure by owning their premises.
St Catherine's Road retail park
Built in 1988 north-west of the city centre, the retail park on St Catherine's Road provides eight purpose-built units. Larger-format retailers and trade counters favour this kind of property, which valuers find easy to compare and lenders find straightforward to fund.
Broxden
Broxden Junction, where the M90, A9 and A93 meet, is one of Scotland's busiest road junctions. Businesses relying on road access, from distributors to vehicle and trade firms, prefer premises on this western edge of the city, where every Scottish city is signposted.
Friarton
Friarton, on the south-east of the city, gives its name to the Friarton Bridge, built in 1978 to carry the M90 across the Tay towards Dundee and Aberdeen. Industrial and trade premises here suit businesses serving the east coast as well as Perth itself.
