Changes in law would open market to Islamic mortgages

The Council of Mortgage Lenders is putting pressure on the Government to make it simpler and cheaper for UK mortgage lenders to provide Shari'ah-compliant mortgages. At present, there is just one lender - the United Bank of Kuwait - which is able to provide Shar'iah-compliant mortgages in the UK, yet there is a growing population of Muslim potential homeowners who want to buy these interest-free products at a much lower cost and on an equal footing to existing mortgage products. Payment or receipt of interest is strictly forbidden under Shar'iah law, so most Islamic mortgages are ...