What the lender wants to know

1. The property

• What is it and what is it used for? Planning use class, any restrictions, any residential element. A change of use needs consent before completion.
• Is it saleable? Lenders price on how easily they could sell it if things went wrong. Offices, industrial units and shops in decent locations are easy. Pubs, hotels, petrol stations, care homes and leisure are "specialist" and get lower LTVs.
• Condition and EPC. A let commercial property must have an EPC of E or better to be lawfully let (the minimum energy efficiency standard), and government has consulted on raising it. Anything F or G needs a plan and a budget.
• Tenure. Freehold, or a long leasehold (lenders usually want 50+ years left at the end of the mortgage term).
• The valuation. A RICS surveyor values it on a vacant-possession basis and, for investment, an investment basis. The loan is the LTV of the lower of price and valuation.

2. The business (owner-occupier)

• Two to three years of filed accounts, plus year-to-date management accounts if the last year-end is more than six months ago.
• Serviceability. The main test: adjusted net profit (before tax, after a reasonable directors' salary, adding back depreciation and the rent you will no longer pay) must cover the annual mortgage payments with room to spare, typically 1.25× to 1.5×, often stress-tested at a higher rate.
• Six to twelve months of business bank statements. They look for bounced payments, HMRC arrears, gambling, and whether the accounts match reality.
• A business plan and forecasts if you are new, changing premises materially, or the accounts do not yet show enough profit.
• Your experience in the trade, and how long the business has existed.

3. The tenant and lease (investment)

• Who is the tenant? A national chain or a public body is prime; an established local business is fine; a start-up on a short lease is weak. Lenders check the tenant's accounts and credit.
• The lease. Length remaining (unexpired term), break clauses, rent review pattern, repairing obligations (full repairing and insuring is what they want), rent deposit or guarantor. Five years or more unexpired is comfortable; under three is hard.
• Interest cover. Rent divided by annual interest, at a stress rate. 125% to 145% is the usual minimum. Vacant property, or a lease ending within the term, needs a plan.

4. You

• Personal assets and liabilities statement for each director or partner: what you own, what you owe, your income.
• Credit history, personal and business. Minor blips are workable with challenger lenders; recent CCJs, defaults or a liquidation need explaining and a specialist.
• Personal guarantee. If the borrower is a limited company, directors are nearly always asked to guarantee some or all of the loan. What that means.
• Deposit source. Where the money comes from, evidenced. Savings, the business, a director's loan, sale of another property, a gift. Borrowed deposits are a problem.
• Identity and ownership. ID for everyone with 25% or more of the company; Companies House filings up to date.

The file to have ready

Lenders decide in the first ten minutes with a file, or in the fourth week without one. Put the summary on page one and the evidence behind it. An adviser will build this for you and knows what each lender wants first.

A note on the numbers. Rates, loan-to-value limits, fees and criteria are typical figures at the time of writing (2026). Commercial lending is priced case by case, so your own terms depend on the property, the business, the tenant and you. This is information, not advice, and not an offer of finance.