Background Information: Commercial property market

Research from the CBI shows that the commercial property market has experienced healthy growth for a few years now and is expected to continue that to grow over the next couple of years. Against the background of a steady growth market, the lenders have (at last!) started to be more flexible in their product offerings.

Until recently, unless you knew the 'specialisms of the lenders' and were in the position of having a 70% or better Loan to Value (LTV) and were looking to repay the loan over a maximum of 15 years, you had a difficult time arranging a mortgage on your commercial premises.

Alongside this, many Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) looking for commercial mortgages simply do not meet the audit threshold of the Companies Act and therefore do not have the required audited statuary accounts for a three year period.

Happily things have improved and continue to do so, albeit it is still important to know in which commercial sectors each of the lenders specialise: retail, office, industrial, healthcare and so on.