Alburaq ascends mortgage ladder

The Arab Banking Corporation has launched their Alburaq line of products, with the initial offering being an Islamic mortgage, available to customers in the Middle East and Europe. Currently in the UK, Islamic musharaka and ijara mortgages receive a 100% risk weighting (in contrast to the 50% rating given to conventional mortgages), making it more difficult for Islamic mortgages to be competitive. The UK should also take steps to incorporate shari`a compliant mortgages into its low cost housing ownership scheme. Affinity marketing is a potential solution to the currently higher costs of Islamic mortgages, where group rates could be negotiated.