Owning your own property can give you more freedom and flexibility. In particular, you have more flexibility over the management or repair of the building, you can generate an additional income stream by letting the property, you can forecast your costs with more certainty (especially with a fixed rate mortgage), and you can profit from any capital growth when you sell the asset.

At Gowers Surveyors, we’ve been advising businesses on their commercial property purchases for many years. Based in CambridgeStamford and Peterborough, we carry out a wide range of surveying services, providing comprehensive and in-depth reports for all property types – commercial, industrial and residential – to allow our clients to properly plan and budget for any new project.

If you’ve decided that purchasing premises is the right decision for your business and you’ve established your budget and list of requirements, it is time to take action.

Finding the right commercial property

You can search for available commercial properties through the usual online property portals. Additionally, we would recommend registering with estate agents who deal with commercial property sales in and around your chosen location. Visit relevant commercial spaces for suitability and also check business rates, energy costs and use class of any property you look at.

Making an offer to buy the premises

Once you’ve found the right premises, make a conditional offer to the agent, which should be subject to a satisfactory building survey as well as planning consent for any alterations you may need. You will need an agreed mortgage offer before committing yourself to buy. When your offer is accepted, instruct a commercial conveyancing solicitor and building surveyor.

Getting a full commercial property survey

Commission an experienced commercial Chartered Surveyor to carry out a full Building Survey on the property. At Gowers Surveyors, our commercial building surveys provide so much more than a simple asset valuation. The inspection and report deliver deep insights into the current condition of the building, including information of any building defects, construction materials, presence of hazardous materials, and much more.

  • Details about the property type, construction and configuration
  • Technical analysis of the building’s condition
  • Statutory and legal issues
  • Budget costs for remedial work

Completing the legal process

Your solicitor will process the legal transfer of ownership for your new premises. Just as in residential conveyancing, the key milestones to work towards are exchange of contracts and completion. In preparation, your solicitor will carry out local searches to check if there are any legal or planning issues with the property, ensure the seller has a good title to pass on to you, and negotiate the best terms for the contract. You should also confirm and agree:

  • Building survey findings
  • Mortgage company valuations and inspections
  • Conditional planning consent (where applicable)
  • Available funding for exchange and completion

Once both buyer and seller are satisfied with the terms of the contract and all outstanding enquiries have been resolved, contracts can be exchanged. Your purchase now becomes legally binding. On completion day, the remainder of the agreed purchase price becomes payable along with Stamp Duty Land Tax. Your solicitor will now register your ownership with the Land Registry.

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Client Testimonials

Ben Green
Ben Green
24 May 2023
Having used Paul's services for a survey on our upcoming listed building purchase I can assure you that you will get the most thorough, professional and helpful service that you could wish for. The report tallied over 100 pages covering all aspects of the house, walls, frames, windows, roof space, drainage, outbuildings, render, roof tiles, water tanks, electrics, insulation, listed building consent, health and safety and much more. Not only that but Paul's report also told us how to best maintain the house going forwards, using what materials and how often things need doing. This was most definitely worth every penny and has allowed us to make an informed decision on the purchase going forwards. A+ rating from me!
James Marron
James Marron
19 May 2023
I could not recommend Paul Gowers highly enough. Excellent service and a very comprehensive, clear report. An extremely knowledgeable and helpful professional.
Brian Scull
Brian Scull
15 September 2021
I have just had a Survey completed by Gowers of Stamford. I have to say that the team there are superb. From the first contact with Catherine who was courteous, professional and helpful and who also arranged everything. To the surveyor Paul who was marvellous, the report was clear and well presented and easy to understand. Paul was extremely helpful and prepared to spend time discussing all the sections and any issues i had.He was very professional and a pleasure to deal with. I don’t normally do revues but felt compelled on this occasion because they deserve enormous praise and i would thoroughly recommend them.
Cameron Bauldry
Cameron Bauldry
7 July 2021
I needed a building survey doing at short notice after red flags were raised once receiving searches and the sellers paperwork back. Unfortunately Gowers and everyone else I checked with were all booked up for months however Paul took time out of his busy day to speak to me, listen to my situation and provide me with some fantastic advice which I very much appreciate. He is very knowledgeable and the advice given has helped me in the next steps of my house purchase. Thank you again.
Neil Crees
Neil Crees
18 March 2021
The value of using Paul, a local well known professional, was huge. I received immediate personal feedback allowing me to take timely action to avoid what could have been an expensive mistake.
Sam Paul
Sam Paul
10 December 2019
We engaged Gowers to carry out a building survey for an old residential property with multiple issues. Paul Gowers was excellent in his response time to our questions and the level of professional reporting. The service we received was reassuring for us and we would certainly use Gowers again.
Mandy Ingram
Mandy Ingram
6 June 2018
We recently used Gowers Surveyors for a building project involving the Party Wall Act. It was applicable on both boundaries and Paul acted as Agreed Surveyor on one side and Building Owner Surveyor on the other. The build itself was fairly straight forward, but the Party Wall process was definitely not... Paul is the consummate professional. Knowledgeable, reliable, calm and level headed he always made himself available whether in person or at the end of a phone or email to ourselves and our contractors. The project lasted 8 months and he continued to deliver the highest level of professionalism and advice throughout. Cannot recommend him highly enough!

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