From today, alburaq, the leading provider of Islamic home finance in the UK, is launching a new set of significantly improved criteria for their home finance products.

The changes include:

• Finance increased up to a maximum of 95% of the value of their chosen property subject to income (excluding the Professionals’ product which will remain at 99%).

• The term of finance will increase up to retirement age, normally until 65 years of age, which can result in customers having payment terms well in excess of 25 years if requested. Customers still retain the flexibility to make a lump sum payment and settle at any time.

• For Buy To Let finance alburaq will now allow student lets, of up to four sharers on the provision that the property is let under a sole assured shorthold tenancy.

‘It is very important for us to be providing the best possible products that meet the needs of our Muslim clients, whilst maintaining the strictest level of Shariah compliance. The changes are clear evidence that Islamic finance is every bit as flexible as ‘conventional’ forms of finance and is by no means a cottage industry’ said Keith Leach, Head of alburaq at ABC International Bank plc.

alburaq has also launched a text message service to help keep customers in touch with their applications. The free service will give customers regular updates on the application process and will cover key milestones from the application being received right thought to completion.

‘Although Muslim finance is in its infancy in the UK, we are determined that our service is second to none. Our text alert service will ensure our customers are kept informed of the progress of their application, no matter where they are,’ said Keith Leach.

alburaq is supporting the changes with a three month television advertising campaign which will be running on all of the specialist satellite channels including Star TV, DM Digital and the Islam Channel. The campaign is part of an integrated marketing campaign to build upon alburaq’s success in the fast growing Islamic mortgage market which is predicted to grow to over £1 billion by 2009.

alburaq’s Shariah compliant home-finance and buy-to-let finance schemes have generated considerable attention from the Muslim community since launch. With traditional interest-based mortgages out of the question for many, the only choice for home ownership has been either going against the faith, or avoiding a mortgage altogether.