Commercial Mortgages Bedford Place and The Polygon

The Bedford Place and The Polygon commercial property market

Bedford Place sits immediately north of the Cumberland Place office spine in SO15 and carries the densest independent F&B parade in central Southampton, a Victorian and Edwardian retail terrace where independent restaurants, bars, cafes and small specialist retail dominate the trading frontage and Victorian flats sit above almost every unit. The Polygon, immediately west, is the central Southampton serviced-office quarter, mid-rise Edwardian and inter-war stock converted to managed serviced workspace serving central SME consultancy, creative, accountancy and legal firms. The combination gives SO15 a distinct independent-led commercial mix that does not look like the Westquay or Above Bar parade.

From a commercial mortgage angle, Bedford Place and The Polygon split four ways. Independent F&B trading-business freehold along the Bedford Place parade and the immediate side streets, semi-commercial shop-and-flat freehold mainly on the trading frontage, owner-occupier and small investor serviced-office freehold inside The Polygon block, and small-cap mixed-use blocks where ground-floor F&B sits beneath upper-floor flats or short-let visitor accommodation. Each carries a distinct lender pool. Semi-commercial is the deepest in volume, InterBay Commercial, Shawbrook and Allica Bank are all active to 75% LTV at 7.0 to 8.5% pa on blended ICR. Independent F&B trading-business funds through Cynergy Bank, Allica Bank and specialist licensed-trade desks at 60 to 70% LTV and 7.0 to 8.5% pa. Serviced-office investment routes through mainstream Class E office desks at 65 to 70% LTV and 6.5 to 7.5% pa.

HM Land Registry residential transactions inside the SO15 central catchment cluster around the Bedford Place and Polygon Victorian terraces, with recent files including a Northam Road SO14 terrace at £200,000 and the wider central SO15 leasehold flat trade. They confirm a healthy renter and owner-occupier base in SO15 that underwrites the AST income and short-let revenue beneath the semi-commercial and mixed-use stack. Stamp duty applies at the commercial rates on Bedford Place commercial freehold purchase, semi-commercial purchase applies the mixed-use SDLT scale subject to usual structuring.

Active commercial property types in Bedford Place and The Polygon

Lender appetite for Bedford Place semi-commercial, independent F&B and Polygon serviced office

Deep across the SO15 core. InterBay Commercial, Shawbrook and Allica Bank are the most active semi-commercial lenders along Bedford Place, quoting to 75% LTV at 7.0 to 8.5% pa on blended ICR around 145%. Cynergy Bank sits prominently on every Bedford Place independent F&B trading-business deal at 60 to 70% LTV and 7.0 to 8.5% pa on operator EBITDA cover at 1.5 to 1.8x. Allica Bank also covers owner-occupier independent F&B and small mixed-use freehold competitively. HTB takes selected Bedford Place trading-business and licensed-trade deals. LendInvest covers refurbishment and short-let visitor-accommodation repositioning bridges. Lloyds, NatWest, Barclays and Santander sit on the mainstream end for owner-occupier professional firms and standard Polygon serviced-office investment at 60 to 65% LTV and 6.5 to 7.5% pa. Cambridge & Counties, Paragon, Together and YBS Commercial pick up the SO15 small-cap mixed-use and semi-commercial book in the £350K to £1.5M bracket. Pricing for clean semi-commercial currently 7.0 to 8.5% pa at 70 to 75% LTV, independent F&B trading-business 7.0 to 8.5% pa at 60 to 70% LTV, serviced-office investment 6.5 to 7.5% pa at 65 to 70% LTV. Commercial mortgages are unregulated lending and fall outside the FCA regulated mortgage perimeter, we do not hold FCA authorisation because the products we arrange are unregulated.