Asset Finance for Shipping Containers
By Joshua Giles, Founder and Director · Reviewed by the CoreFi credit team
Last updated 20 July 2026
CoreFi is a broker, not a lender. We do not set rates and lenders make all credit decisions.
In short: Shipping container finance spreads the cost of ISO containers, reefers or a hire fleet over their working life, secured on the containers themselves rather than your property. Steel containers hold their value well and last decades, so lenders lend comfortably and hire purchase to own tends to fit. Terms typically run 3 to 7 years. We are a broker: we place your case and the lender sets the rate.
A shipping container is one of the easier assets to put in front of a finance lender. A standard steel ISO container has a working life measured in decades, and a cargo box that retires from the shipping line still has years of second life as static storage or a conversion shell. That slow, predictable depreciation is what a lender wants: the security holds its value across the term rather than falling away in the first two years.
The mechanic is hire purchase or a finance lease against the containers. The lender funds the purchase and your limited company repays over an agreed term, commonly three to seven years, with the containers as security. Because residual value is strong, hire purchase to own is usually the sensible route: you keep an asset still worth real money at the end, and on hire purchase you can claim Annual Investment Allowance on the full cost in the year of purchase. A balloon payment can sit at the end to lower the monthly cost, and the durable residual makes that easier to structure than on kit that depreciates fast.
We place this for self-storage operators building out a site, logistics and haulage firms needing storage and swap bodies, container hire fleets funding stock that earns rental from day one, and conversion businesses turning boxes into site offices, pop-up units or modular space. Reefers, the refrigerated units, are financed too, though the refrigeration machinery ages faster than the steel, so terms tend to be shorter and the advance a little tighter.
One quirk lenders care about is mobility. A container can be lifted onto a lorry and shipped abroad, so some funders want comfort that the units are trackable by their CSC plate and container number, or that they stay in the UK earning. Specialist asset lenders are comfortable with this; a high-street bank often is not. Because the finance is secured on the containers, the lender can repossess them if repayments are not maintained. No broker can promise a rate or an approval before a lender has seen the file. What we do is put your case to the funders who understand container residuals and have live appetite.
Key Benefits
- Steel containers depreciate slowly and hold residual value across the term, so lenders lend comfortably and hire purchase to own is usually worth having at the end
- The containers are the security, so an established company can usually fund a fleet without a property charge or a debenture, beyond a standard director warranty
- Hire purchase lets you claim Annual Investment Allowance on the full cost in the year of purchase, set against Corporation Tax
- Hire-fleet operators can fund stock that earns rental income from the day it lands, so the facility is repaid partly out of what the containers themselves bring in
- A balloon payment structured against the strong residual keeps monthly costs down while a conversion or storage site is still filling up
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I finance a fleet of containers rather than a single unit?
Yes, and most container deals we place are fleets rather than one box. A lender can wrap multiple units into a single facility, and hire operators often draw down in stages as stock arrives so interest is not running on containers that have not been delivered yet. The security is the containers as a pool, identified by their container numbers.
Do lenders finance used and second-life containers?
Routinely. Cargo-worthy and wind-and-watertight used containers are financed as standard, because a used steel container still has a long useful life for storage or conversion. Very old or heavily corroded units, or bespoke conversions with little resale market, will see a tighter advance and sometimes a larger deposit. The lender assesses remaining life and condition.
Are refrigerated containers (reefers) treated differently?
Yes. A reefer carries a refrigeration unit that ages faster than the steel shell and costs more to replace, so lenders usually set a shorter term and a slightly tighter advance than on a dry box. The upside is the reefer earns a higher rental, which supports affordability. We route reefer deals to funders comfortable with the machinery, not just the container.
Why do some lenders worry about containers being portable?
Because a container can be lifted onto a lorry and shipped out of the country, some funders see a mobile asset as harder to recover. Specialist asset lenders manage this through the CSC plate and container number, or by lending against units that stay in the UK earning rental. It is one of the reasons a high-street bank often passes on containers and a specialist does not.
Hire purchase or lease for containers, which is right?
For most limited companies buying containers to keep, hire purchase to own fits, because the strong residual means the asset is still worth having at the end and you can claim Annual Investment Allowance up front. A finance lease can suit if you would rather deduct the payments as an expense and keep title with the lender. It depends on your tax position, so take your accountant's view; we cannot decide it for you.
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Get matched with lendersCoreFi is a trading name of JG Core Ltd (Company #16218779, England & Wales). CoreFi acts as a commercial finance broker and does not provide regulated financial advice. All products described are unregulated business-to-business finance. Information on this page is for general guidance only and does not constitute a formal offer of finance. Terms, rates, and availability are subject to lender criteria and may change without notice.