Frequently asked questions

A mortgage broker is a financial intermediary who works with a number of lenders to offer mortgage and loan products to their clients.

Some brokers have access to all lender products available in the UK marketplace – except those few lenders who only deal directly with consumers. Other brokers will have a restricted ‘panel’ of lenders that they have relationships with. A broker who can offer the widest choice of lender relationships can offer you the benefit of a similarly broad range of products. Commercial Trust has access to all lender products available in the UK marketplace – except those few lenders who only deal direct with consumers.

Our brokerage is formed of a team of mortgage advisors who will help and advise clients on mortgage products that suit their needs, and a team of mortgage account managers who will help with the paperwork and process of getting the mortgage.

Going direct to the financial lender that you have your bank account with maybe a straightforward path, however, banks and lenders only have access to their specific products.

A lender you have a pre-existing relationship with may offer you products they would not give to a new client unknown to them.

However, by narrowing your research to one, two or even a few lenders, compared to looking at products from all lenders, you may not end up with the best deal possible based on your needs and circumstances.

Brokers take a range of products from a variety of lenders and try to find the best one for you. This means that mortgage brokers may have access to products which suit your needs better or can get you a lower initial rate than if you were to look with one lender.

A mortgage lender is a financial organisation that loans directly to the client or customer. A broker doesn’t lend the money itself, the broker researches the products from multiple lenders and works for the client to find a great deal.

Because Commercial Trust is not tied to any one lender, we offer impartial and reliable advice from lenders across the marketplace. We can then assist you with any questions you have relating to specific mortgage products or criteria.

We operate entirely over the phone and via email, but you can submit an enquiry through live chat, call-back request, email or simply call us on the freephone number at the top of this page.

We will need to speak with you on the telephone to arrange a mortgage or loan for you. If you use methods other than calling us, to make an enquiry, we will call you to make contact.

You will be assigned a dedicated mortgage advisor who will complete a ‘Fact-find’. This is where we will run through your needs and circumstances to ensure we research and recommend a great product that ticks all your boxes.

Following this, your mortgage advisor will then search through our products from over 80 high-street and specialist lenders to find the deal that suits your needs. They will then discuss it with you, and present the monthly costs associated with that deal.

Once you have agreed to proceed with the product your advisor has recommended they will submit an application for you.

You will then be put in touch with an experienced account manager who will take over your application process and push the deal to completion. They will liaise with the lender, solicitor and conveyancer where possible.

This is for your and our protection. Whilst the products we broker are not FCA regulated, we as a business are. As such we are required to conduct checks to prove the identity of anyone we work with.

We audit the service we provide to clients, to ensure our high service standards are being upheld.

Lastly, if at any point a client had a concern about our service, we are required to investigate in full and so a record of all our dealings with clients is essential.

Buy to let mortgages are used for landlords and investors who wish to buy a property to let it out to domestic tenants.

Commercial mortgages are used for properties specifically related to commercial use. For example, this can be a shop, a warehouse, an office or any other premises a business will operate from. Commercial premises can be rented out to single or multiple tenants who will run their business/es from the building. Or a business owner can occupy the property themselves to run their business from.

Semi-commercial properties are where there is a combination of business and residential use, e.g. a flat above an office or shop.

Limited company buy to let's are for landlords who are investing using either a trading limited company or SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle), which is a type of limited company set up specifically for specific purpose, in this instance for buying property. The properties are then rented to domestic tenants.

Commercial mortgages are for properties intended for commercial use, which can be done through a limited company, but serves a different purpose to a limited company buy to let.

At Commercial Trust, we take a commitment fee at application, then the remaining sum once the deal has been completed. That way it mitigates your outlay until you know the deal has been done and you have your funds in place.

No fee is paid until your mortgage advisor has identified a product you are keen to proceed with.

Because we are an independent broker, we are not tied to any one lender. By paying a fee for our work you can be sure that we are not biased in finding you a lender, as a result of any preferential procuration fees.

We will only recommend a lender suited to your requirements.

If you message us during office hours, you will speak to an advisor. We know how frustrating it can be to interact with bots, or employees who do not have a detailed knowledge of what you want to discuss. This is why the same advisors you speak to on the phone are the experts you can speak to via our live chat service.

We are open Monday - Thursday, 9am to 8pm and Friday 9am to 6pm. We are closed for UK bank holidays and at the weekend.

During our office hours you can get immediate help from our team. If you have all the information we need straight away, we can get you a decision in principle (a document from a lender saying they will be prepared to offer you the money you need) very quickly.

For a buy to let mortgage, bridging loan or homeowner business loan it could be within two hours of our speaking to you. For a commercial mortgage or development finance it could be the same day. If speed is of the essence, tell your advisor and they will go to lenders who work quickly.

The type of finance you need will determine how quickly the funds will be with you. Bridging loans and homeowner business loans can be very fast, with the money coming to you in just days. Buy to let mortgages, commercial mortgages and development finance will take several weeks.

Commercial Trust has been offering property investment financial solutions since 2012. However, we are part of a privately owned company called Norfolk Capital Group which has been trading since 1988, run by the same Group Chairman since inception.

Commercial Trust is built on it values of: Integrity, Honesty, Equality, Fairness, Openness and Transparency, Humility, Service and Trust. As someone looking for help with investing in property, you will want to be sure you will get the best possible expertise, world class service and to work with a company you can trust implicitly.

We centre our business practices and our recruitment on our values, to ensure every client gets this from us. Recruiting people to work here who believe in our values is fundamental to the shaping of our business.

Investing in property has the potential to change someone's life for the better, by giving them the money to improve their lifestyle. We take our part in that very seriously.