Offa, a UK-based Islamic property finance Fintech, has acquired Bank of Ireland’s Alburaq Sharia-compliant home finance portfolio in a deal including over 350 home purchase plans.
The deal means that the customers transferred over to Offa will reportedly have access to a broader “range of Sharia-compliant” property finance products.
The Alburaq portfolio is said to be one of the oldest sharia-compliant home finance products to have launched in the United Kingdom.
The Offa team, based in Birmingham, constructed a sharia-compliant funding structure to minimize legal and tax issues – and reportedly became the “first” financial institution to acquire an Islamic home finance book in the United Kingdom.
Amir Firdaus, CFO at Offa, said that it is testament to Offa’s abilities that Bank of Ireland has agreed “to sell their Islamic home finance portfolio to us. This marks another chapter in Offa’s ambitious growth plans.”
Firdaus added that members of the Offa executive team are already very much familiar with Alburaq’s clients, “having helped distribute this book almost two decades ago, and we are delighted that these customers are now coming home to us.” They also mentioned that those who have been transferred as part of this purchase and are eligible will “now have access to a wider range of Sharia-compliant property re-financing options.”
Offa launched a buy-to-let (BTL) service – with quick funding decisions delivered via a “paperless” process – aiming to disrupt and transform the traditionally “old-fashioned and cumbersome world of Islamic finance.”
Instead of using interest, Offa’s BTL product involves the Islamic finance principles of “co-ownership-with-leasing.”
Customers acquire the property in partnership with Offa and “make monthly payments to increase their share, over time owning it.”
The firm explains that it is offering an “ethical” finance model designed in accordance with Islamic finance principles, which means “not charging interest and investment into sectors deemed harmful to society – such as alcohol, tobacco, and the arms trade.”
Offa reportedly has £230 million of “sharia-compliant funding” for its BTL product line, offering capacity for the business to “diversify” its financial propositions in the United Kingdom’s property market.
