The Government has agreed to extend legislation aimed at putting Islamic financial products on a level playing field with other mainstream services. The changes, which relate to the taxation of Islamic financial products on savings and deposit accounts, extend the relief already offered on double stamp duty payments.
According to the Islamic faith, mortgages in their traditional sense are forbidden, but a few lenders have now developed products to cater for religious beliefs. The Islamic Bank of Britain have said that the ongoing changes will allow them to launch into the mortgage market, providing another sharia-compliant property finance product by the end of the year.
Our view
This is great news for this new financial services sector and in fact great news for all as this part of our community has technically created a new range of products available for all.