Please tell us about Offa
Offa is the UK’s leading Islamic property finance fintech firm, offering the widest range of Islamic property finance products in the UK. We were the country’s first Sharia-compliant Bridge finance provider, also offering Buy-to-Let, Bridge-to-Let, and now our FCA-regulated Home Purchase Plan.
Faith is at the core of Offa’s vision, brand and service, enabling British Muslim property investors and others seeking ethical finance to access Sharia-compliant finance and realise their potential as they move up the property ladder.
Our experienced senior team are among the leading names in UK Islamic finance, bringing innovation to the market by creating a faster, smarter, and easier service through direct and broker channels to meet this large and previously unfulfilled demand.
Please tell us about your background and your role at Offa?
I was born in Birmingham and I have more than 20 years of experience in UK Islamic banking services. I was amongst the first team members to join the first Islamic bank in the UK, literally a month after they received their banking licence, and I’ve worked to raise the profile of the sector here.
I have developed and managed a multi-channel distribution of Sharia-compliant products worldwide, generating more than £1 billion from property finance, and I combined my experience in analysis and risk mitigation with creating and implementing strategies for growth across products, systems, policies and people.
As Head of Premier and Retail Assets at Al Rayan Bank I operated in retail banking and also specialised in asset products such as the Home Purchase Plan. I was also responsible for launching the first Islamic Buy-to-Let product in the country.
At Offa I have designed the company’s products, processes and systems – managing all origination, operations, and underwriting for our home finance while heading up marketing for the group.
I also make sure that Offa gives back to society by donating to charity, including being part of the team managing our own Islamic endowment fund (waqf). We encourage staff members to do charity work by giving them time off for this, and I personally set up an fostering and adoption charity. This way, we contribute to important causes and work towards creating a positive impact that stretches beyond our business.
Tell us about the Home Purchase Plan you’ve just launched
Our Home Purchase Plan (HPP), the Islamic equivalent of a conventional mortgage, outpaces high street banks on speed. The Home Owners Alliance estimates that it takes two to four weeks to process a conventional mortgage application, whereas our modern Islamic HPP application system allows offers to be made within an hour depending upon credit rating and risk criteria.
Our HPP, which uses modern technology to provide fast decisions and paperless application processes, is shaking up Islamic home finance in the UK – which has had an image problem due to slow, cumbersome application processes and excessive paperwork required.
We recently published a national survey report which reveals that British Muslims are suffering a “financial faith penalty”, with 8 in 10 saying their home finance choices are restricted due to their faith. We are challenging Islamic home finance providers, brokers and policymakers to follow our lead and help build an industry where faith-aligned finance no longer means accepting slower application processes, excessive paperwork and poorer overall experiences than those available in the conventional market.
Our HPP is a prime example of the kind of quality home finance our industry should be providing, and we have made it very accessible – with a minimum 5% deposit, up to 7 times income being accepted subject to affordability and underwriting criteria, and our HPP is fully FCA regulated.
Offa’s HPP allows customers to buy a property following Islamic finance ethical principles, where charging or paying interest is forbidden. Instead of using interest, Offa’s HPP 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.
Please explain what the Family Assist feature on your HPP offers customers?
We are the first Sharia-compliant provider to offer Family Assist, which makes home finance more accessible by allowing customers add family members to their finance plan, helping them get more finance than they otherwise could while remaining the sole owner of the property.
Customers can also take advantage of “gifted equity” where they can buy a property at an under-value price from family members. Offa then uses the full value for finance purposes, entirely avoiding the need for a deposit.
How important is technology to Offa's proposition?
It’s crucial for us as a modern fintech. We do not accept that British Muslims should be have to suffer slow service or cumbersome systems, so we are actually beating conventional high-street bank mortgage providers on speed.
What are your predictions for the UK Islamic property finance sector in 2026?
There has been a rise in activity in the Islamic home finance market over the past year, and this has started to accelerate now with the launch of our HPP. We are only the third provider of Sharia-compliant HPP in the UK, so this added competition is good news for the customer.
We are expecting our product – the first truly modern HPP due to being able to make decisions with little or no paperwork and being able to receive offers on the same day – to continue increasing activity in the market, which is what British Muslims have been asking and waiting for.
