Muslim mortgage approvals worth over £100 million in last six months

Over the last six months alburaq, the leading Shariah compliant financial services provider, has approved over £100 million worth of mortgage business and is set to see the total market grow to over £1 billion by 2009.

alburaq launched home and buy-to-let finance for the UK’s two million Muslims towards the end of 2004, which offered the Muslim community an ability to own and invest in property.

“We are now seeing the UK market developing very quickly. It is also noticeable that the nature of our enquiries is changing and less explanation is now required about how these products work and the focus is now more about how much is the cost.”, said Keith Leach, Head of alburaq at ABC International Bank plc. “At the moment the volume of Islamic mortgage business is only a small percentage of the total mortgage figure in the UK, but based on our current trends we are predicting significant growth over the next 2 years”.

Shariah law prohibits the practice of earning money from money, so the payment of interest (known as Riba) is not allowed. Shariah compliant finance products operate without earning - or charging - interest, enabling Muslims to bank without compromising their principles.

alburaq partnered with Bristol & West plc to launch the home and buy-to-let finance so they could combine their expertise in Islamic banking with Bristol & West’s experience in the UK mortgage market.

“We have opened up some very interesting opportunities for the Muslim community in the UK,” said Alison Pallet, Head of Consumer Lending, Bristol & West. “We are delighted with our partnership with alburaq and we see this going from strength to strength in the future”.

While the product’s structure differs from conventional interest based mortgages to ensure compliance with Shariah law, the criteria are the same as Bristol & West‘s conventional mortgage range. All products benefit from the significantly enhanced criteria improvements Bristol & West have made.

The alburaq range of home finance products is available either directly or through selected IFAs. alburaq also supply the home finance products available through Lloyds TSB and the Islamic Bank of Britain.

The product is devised, guided and marketed by ABC International Bank plc while Bristol & West provide all the product support, process expertise and financial resources.