Industrial property finance and investment guides
Plain-English guides to buying, building, refurbishing, investing in and financing light industrial property in the UK.
These guides cover the light industrial sector end to end: how to buy an industrial unit, whether to rent or buy premises for your business, how multi-let industrial investment works, what units cost to build and refurbish, how the finance stack works from bridging to mezzanine, and what the UK market data says about rents, vacancy and yields. They are written and reviewed by Matt Lenzie, who has arranged more than £500 million of property finance over 25 years. When you want a real view on a deal, send it to us and we will come back within one working day.
How to buy an industrial unit or estate: process, valuation and funding.
How to buy an industrial unit
A step-by-step guide to buying an industrial unit in the UK: finding units for sale, due diligence, valuation, freehold vs leasehold, and the finance that funds the purchase.
Read guide →Finding industrial units for sale
Where to find industrial units for sale in the UK, what listings really mean, auctions and off-market deals, and how to fund the purchase once you find one.
Read guide →How industrial property is valued
How industrial units and estates are valued in the UK: rental evidence, yields, ERV, vacant possession vs investment value, and what lenders instruct valuers to do.
Read guide →Buying premises for your trading business: rent vs buy, deposits and owner-occupier mortgages.
Buying premises for your business
How trading businesses buy their own industrial premises in the UK: the process, deposits, owner-occupier commercial mortgages, SIPP and SSAS routes, and the pitfalls.
Read guide →Renting vs buying an industrial unit
Whether a trading business should rent or buy its industrial unit: the cash flow maths, control and security, tax treatment, and how an owner-occupier mortgage compares to rent.
Read guide →Commercial mortgage deposits
Commercial mortgage deposits explained: typical loan to value for owner-occupiers and investors, what changes the deposit, and ways to bridge an equity gap.
Read guide →Yields, multi-let income and what industrial property actually returns in the UK.
Is industrial property a good investment?
Whether industrial property is a good investment in the UK: rents, vacancy, yields and risks, with sourced market data and how investors finance units and estates.
Read guide →Multi-let industrial investment explained
How multi-let industrial investment works: granular SME income, reversionary rents, management intensity, why institutions bought into MLI, and how lenders fund estates.
Read guide →Industrial property yields
UK industrial property yields with sources: prime multi-let benchmarks, the spread to secondary, what moves yields, and how yield shapes the debt a purchase supports.
Read guide →Construction costs, use classes and refurbishment for industrial units and trade parks.
Industrial unit construction costs
What it costs to build an industrial unit in the UK: shell and fit-out costs per sq ft, steel portal frames, small-unit schemes, and the development finance behind them.
Read guide →Industrial planning use classes
The planning use classes behind industrial property: B2 general industrial, B8 storage and distribution, E(g)(iii) light industrial, sui generis yards, and why use class matters to lenders.
Read guide →Refurbishing industrial units
Refurbishing industrial units in the UK: typical works and costs, EPC and MEES deadlines, the rental uplift case, and the refurbishment finance that funds the works.
Read guide →The finance stack explained: mezzanine, bridging, development and term debt.
Mezzanine finance explained
What mezzanine finance is and how it works in UK property: where it sits in the capital stack, rates, security, risks, and when developers use it.
Read guide →Bridging loan vs term loan
Bridging finance and term debt compared for commercial property: speed, cost, criteria and exits, and how deals move from a bridge onto a commercial mortgage.
Read guide →The UK industrial property market: rents, vacancy, yields and the open storage story.
The UK industrial property market
The UK industrial property market explained with sourced data: multi-let rents, vacancy, yields, the small-unit supply squeeze and what it means for borrowers.
Read guide →The UK open storage market
The UK open storage (IOS) market explained: what counts as open storage, why institutional money arrived, rents and planning constraints, and how yards are financed.
Read guide →Got an industrial deal in mind?
Send us the outline and we will come back with a view on fundability and likely terms within one working day.