Aspen signs Heter Iska agreement opening the door to Jewish property professionals
Aspen Bridging has signed a Heter Iska agreement, thereby allowing the business to finance Jewish property professionals for the first time.
This action opens up a whole new market for the lender and marks a significant step towards achieving its £250m lending target for 2025.
The Heter Iska agreement, which has been authorised with Rabbi Eli Brief of the Union of Hebrew Congregations, is a Jewish religious compliance document that restructures a loan as an investment partnership.
This in turn enables finance agreements between members of the Jewish faith in a way that is permissible under Jewish law.
The move represents the first time that Aspen Bridging will be able to lend to the Jewish community given its parent company, S&U Plc has a longstanding Jewish shareholding in the FTSE listed business.
Jack Coombs, managing director of Aspen Bridging, explains: “We are delighted to have signed this Heter Iska which allows for us to engage with Jewish property investors and developers, and we are excited to begin discussions with them and their broker community imminently.
“This is a milestone development for the business, opening up a whole new market of hugely prevalent property professionals.”
Rabbi Eli Brief, a representative of the Union of Hebrew Congregations, said, “We very much welcome Aspen Bridging to the ever-increasing list of Heter Iska lenders and trust that this will lead to a mutually beneficial relationship with the members of our Jewish community.”