Try Adviser Network granted FCA Permission to advise on Shariah Mortgages
The Try Adviser Network of mortgage brokers has been granted permission by the FCA to give financial advice on Shariah-compliant home purchase plans.
Try Adviser Network acts as a link between mortgage providers and advisers, and operates alongside a direct-to-consumer mortgage service under the Try Financial brand.
Its appointed representatives have reported increasing interest in home purchase plans, the Shariah-compliant equivalent of a mortgage, over the past 12 months. This is what prompted the Network to apply to the FCA for regulatory permission to advise customers on these products earlier this year.
Home purchase plans differ slightly from traditional mortgages, where a buyer borrows a fixed amount from a bank to purchase a property and then pays this back with interest over a set term. With home purchase plans, the Bank and the buyer purchase the property in partnership and no interest is charged, as this is not permitted in Islamic finance.
Instead, the Bank charges rent on the part of the property that the customer doesn’t yet own. The customer also pays an additional amount each month to gradually purchase the bank’s share of the property over a set period.
The network has worked with home purchase plan provider Gatehouse Bank, and the Bank’s sales director Roger Evans, to shape its offering. It also offers customers buy-to-let purchase plans, which are a Shariah-compliant mortgage alternative for landlords where the additional home purchase plan permissions are not required to provide advice to customers.
Martin Swann, managing director at Try Adviser Network, said:
“We regularly speak to our appointed representatives to find out what they need to expand their businesses, and requests for HPP permissions have grown considerably in the past year.
“We have worked closely with Gatehouse Bank for several months, using their knowledge and experience of the HPP market to shape our proposition. We see them as central to our home purchase plan offering in the years to come.
“We are delighted to have had permissions granted by the FCA, growing the number of customer journeys we can offer under the broad roof of Try Financial Ltd. It has always been our intention to deliver as much as we possibly can to advisers.”
Roger Evans, director of Home Finance Distribution at Gatehouse Bank, said:
“Try Financial are a valued business partner of Gatehouse Bank and I am delighted that they have taken the initiative to gain the home purchase plans permissions with the FCA.
“This will allow their intermediaries to provide an even better level of service and support to their customers and meet the growing demand for home purchase plans in the residential property market head on. This will be in addition to offering an ethical finance solution for landlords in the form of buy-to-let purchase plans, which do not require these consumer-focused permissions.
“This is a positive step that will further support the growth of one of the industry’s most innovative broker networks.”
