Renfrewshire is one of Scotland's 32 council areas, set in the west central Lowlands on the southern bank of the River Clyde. The current council area was established in 1996 and covers only the central part of the old historic county, with East Renfrewshire and Inverclyde taking the rest. Paisley is the main settlement and the seat of local government, and the historic county town of Renfrew sits a short distance to the north. Glasgow International Airport, which Wikipedia describes as Scotland's second busiest, lies at Abbotsinch between the two.
We are a broker, not a lender. We arrange business mortgages for trading companies anywhere in Renfrewshire that want to buy, or refinance, the premises they occupy, and we put each case to the lenders whose criteria suit it. This is finance secured on a working business's own building. It is not a residential mortgage and not a buy-to-let loan.
What do Renfrewshire firms buy with an owner-occupier mortgage?
Being next door to Glasgow and home to the airport gives the area an unusually busy mix of trading premises. Around Abbotsinch and the M8 junctions, the demand is for warehouses, trade counters, vehicle and aviation-related workshops and offices for firms that need to be close to the runway or the motorway. In Paisley the picture is more varied: town-centre shops and professional offices, the retail and leisure units of Phoenix Retail Park on the site of the old Rootes car plant, and older mill and industrial buildings left from the weaving era.
Owning rather than renting appeals to firms that have been in the same unit for years and want the rent to start building equity instead. Our page on owner-occupier mortgages sets out how a lender weighs up a company buying the building it already trades from.
What Renfrewshire firms do: shops, workshops and haulage yards
ONS UK Business Counts 2026, local units.
Show as a table
| Sector | Businesses | Renfrewshire share | UK share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction and building trades | 790 | 12.8% | 12.5% |
| Retail | 700 | 11.3% | 9.3% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 700 | 11.3% | 14% |
| Business support services | 545 | 8.8% | 8.1% |
| Restaurants, cafes and pubs | 465 | 7.5% | 6.2% |
| Health and social care | 375 | 6.1% | 5.6% |
| Personal and other services | 340 | 5.5% | 4.1% |
| Manufacturing and engineering | 325 | 5.3% | 4.3% |
| Transport, logistics and storage | 315 | 5.1% | 4.2% |
- 3.4xpublic administration160 businesses
- 2.1xwarehousing and logistics105 businesses
- 1.8xcleaning and facilities management275 businesses
- 1.6xmachinery repair and installation50 businesses
A figure of 2.0x means the trade makes up twice the share of local businesses that it does across the UK.
Renfrewshire has a hands-on, urban business mix. Retail makes up 11.3% of its 6,205 local business units against 9.3% across the UK, and restaurants, cafes and pubs reach 7.5%. Manufacturing and engineering (5.3%) and transport, logistics and storage (5.1%) both sit above the national share, while warehousing support firms are about twice as common as nationally, which fits an area built around Glasgow Airport and the M8.
For a firm buying an industrial unit here, the valuer has a deep pool of comparable buildings to draw on, which tends to make that stage of the application more predictable.
How do LBTT and a standard security apply to premises finance in Renfrewshire, Scotland?
Because the property is in Scotland, the buyer pays Land and Buildings Transaction Tax to Revenue Scotland rather than English stamp duty. Non-residential LBTT is charged at 0% on the first £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 legal route is Scottish too. The purchase contract is formed when missives of sale conclude between the two sets of solicitors, so your loan offer should be in hand before that point. The lender then takes a standard security over the building, registered in the Land Register by Registers of Scotland, usually alongside a personal guarantee or a floating charge.
Illustrative example. An airport services firm buys a freehold warehouse near the M8 for £600,000. A 75% loan is £450,000, so the deposit is £150,000. LBTT on £600,000 comes to £18,500, which takes the cash needed to roughly £168,500 before legal and valuation fees. The full bands are in our guide to stamp duty on commercial property.
Renfrewshire estates where firms own their units, Linwood to Greenhill
Named estates and parks listed on Google Maps near Renfrewshire, October 2026. Listed to show where premises trade locally; we have no connection with the owners or agents.
- St Industrial EstateJohnstone PA5 8PE
- Linwood Industrial EstateLinwood, Paisley PA3 3BD
- Mossedge Industrial EstateLinwood, Paisley PA3 3HR
- Imperial Business Park1 West Ave, Linwood, Paisley PA1 2FB
- Greenhill Business Park82 Greenhill Rd, Paisley PA3 1RQ
- Kenyart Industrial EstatePaisley PA3 1RD
- Murray Business ParkPaisley PA3 1QT
- Inchinnan Industrial EstateRenfrew PA4 9RU
- North Street Industrial Estate8 North St, Paisley PA3 2BS
- Phoenix Industrial EstatePaisley PA3 2RP
- Abercorn Industrial EstatePaisley PA3 4AY
- Westpoint Business ParkPaisley PA3 2RP
What terms does a commercial property loan in the Renfrewshire council area carry?
Lenders active in owner-occupier lending typically advance 70 to 75% of the lower of price and valuation, with up to 80% for strong trading records. Indicative pricing runs from 6.0 to 7.5% a year, over terms of 5 to 25 years, with arrangement fees usually 1 to 2%, all indicative, subject to status, accounts and valuation. A hotel, pub or care business is priced as a trading business, typically 7.0 to 9.0%.
Planning sits with Renfrewshire Council, whose headquarters are in Paisley. A lender's solicitor will want to see that the building's current use is lawful, so it helps to check the planning history early, especially for a converted mill or a unit that has changed use. Commercial lending to a limited company is unregulated and falls outside the FCA's regulated mortgage perimeter. If a case would be regulated, such as a loan to a sole trader or a building where you or a close relative will live in part of it, we pass it to an appropriately authorised firm.
Owner-occupier lending across Renfrewshire's towns
Paisley
The largest town and centre of local government, Paisley was once a global weaving centre whose mills had all closed by 1993. Today its employers include the council, the University of the West of Scotland and the Royal Alexandra Hospital, and its buyers range from High Street retailers and professional practices to businesses on Phoenix Retail Park.
Renfrew
The historic county town sits on the Clyde, close to the airport and the motorway network. Its location suits distributors, engineers and trade suppliers who need quick access to the M8 and the Erskine Bridge, and it is a natural place for a growing firm to buy its first industrial unit rather than keep renting.
Glasgow Airport at Abbotsinch
The airport lies between Paisley and Renfrew and is served by the M8, which ends in the area just east of Langbank. Freight handlers, car hire, aviation engineers and logistics firms cluster nearby, and lenders tend to view well-located units with good road access as straightforward security.
Erskine
Erskine sits at the southern end of the Erskine Bridge, the crossing that links north-west and south-west Scotland and has been free of tolls since they were lifted. Firms here often serve both sides of the Clyde, and buy small industrial or office premises with easy access to the bridge and the motorway.
Braehead
Braehead sits on the Clyde near the boundary with Glasgow, and a 2019 proposal for a metro line would link Paisley and the airport to the city through it. Retail, leisure and trade businesses here look for premises that draw customers from across the conurbation as well as from Renfrewshire itself.
