Offa, the UK-based Islamic property finance fintech, is offering first-time buyers Sharia-compliant buy-to-let finance, and has also dropped its minimum age requirement to 18 years old, as part of a series of moves made to widen access to Sharia-compliant finance for the general public.
Following a number of customer criteria changes by Offa, buy-to-let (BTL) applicants only need to earn £18,000 per annum, while the fintech has also simplified the way finance affordability is assessed. Now, customers with terms under five years pay the standard rate plus one per cent, while those with terms of five years or more will pay the standard rate.
As part of the new criteria, portfolio clients will be subjected to more realistic stress testing, based on the average of current five-year fixed rate products, currently 6.6 per cent, rather than the standard variable rate – making large portfolio cases more viable.
Offa has also expanded opportunities for overseas clients, with British expats in Malaysia and Hong Kong also now eligible for Offa’s Sharia-compliant BTL finance.
Sagheer Malik, chief commercial officer and MD of retail finance, Offa
Sagheer Malik, chief commercial officer and managing director of retail finance at Offa, said: “We strive to make our Sharia-compliant home finance available to the majority of people rather than just the richest among us, which means constantly working to make our services inclusive and affordable.
“This is an example of our actions speaking louder than our words, as we now accept first-time buyers for the first time, drop the minimum required age of 18 and make our stress testing more transparent, along with many other changes that make applying for our finance straightforward, quick and easy.”
Ensuring ethical finance
Powered by the latest software, Offa’s innovative BTL service meets the needs of both Muslim and non-Muslim property investors with fast finance decisions and paperless processes – dragging the traditionally old-fashioned and cumbersome world of Islamic finance into the 21st century.
Offa received £230million of sharia-compliant funding for its BTL product, offering significant capacity for the business to expand and diversify its financial propositions in the UK property market.
The company follows 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, animal testing and the arms trade.
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