Offa, a Shariah-compliant bridging lender, has agreed a major funding line from the Shariah-compliant bank, Gatehouse Bank.

Since it launched in the Autumn of 2019, Birmingham and London-based Offa has seen strong demand for its residential and commercial bridging finance products which range from £100,000 to £10m and have a maximum FTV (finance to value) of 75%.

Offa provides finance to UK residents, expats and international investors based overseas. It finances individuals, sole traders, partnerships, limited companies, LLPs as well as on- and offshore SPVs.

This year, Offa will be further developing its product range, adding a refurbishment, stretched development, planning and shared risk ethical finance facility (a Shariah-compliant equivalent of a Joint Venture).

Bilal Ahmed, head of operations at Offa, said: “Since we launched, demand for our Shariah-compliant bridging finance products has been far stronger than anticipated and this new funding line will help us to accommodate it.

“The brokers we’re dealing with see what we’re offering as a real value-add for their clients, not to mention a key differentiator.

“With the property market now on a stronger footing, we are looking forward to establishing a real foothold in the market during 2020 and helping Muslims and non-Muslims alike expand and enhance their portfolios through this quick and highly flexible form of finance.”

Paul Stockwell, chief commercial officer at Gatehouse Bank, added: “The synergies between Offa and Gatehouse are clearly very strong and we are looking forward to helping establish Shariah-compliant bridging finance. There’s a huge amount of untapped demand and Offa will go quite some way to meet it.”