Offa, the Shariah-compliant bridging lender, has joined Connect Mortgages panel.

The specialist lender comes on to the Connect for Intermediaries panel as its exclusive provider of Shariah-compliant, short-term finance.

Connect, which has 250 appointed representatives around the UK, specialises in buy-to-let purchases, including servicing the ex-pat, foreign national and Shariah-compliant markets.

Offa, founded in 2019, says its range of residential bridge, commercial bridge and repair-to-let products is available to Muslim and non-Muslim clients.

Offa founding partner Bilal Ahmed says: “Islamic finance works differently to conventional banking and is regarded as ethical by those who use it.

“There is a significant, untapped market of Muslim and non-Muslim investors looking for alternative, ethical finance that is consistent with Islamic principles.

“Brokers who can accommodate them will benefit from a strong new revenue channel with considerable long-term potential.

“While Offa accepts finance applications direct, the broker channel is integral to our proposition and we are keen to speak to intermediaries who want to add Shariah-compliant bridging finance to their propositions.”

Ahmed adds: “There is growing demand for ethical finance from both Muslims and non-Muslims. For example, Al Rayan Bank, the UK’s oldest and largest Islamic bank, recently announced that it had financed more than £1.2bn in commercial property finance since 2013.

“The Bank reached this milestone in 2020 having seen its commercial property finance asset book increase by 20% to more than £600m, over the last twelve months.

“Its customer base is diverse, with 25% of commercial property finance customers believed to be non-Muslim.”

Connect Mortgages sales director Kevin Thomson adds: “Their [Offa’s] addition extends our Shariah-compliant product offering, enabling our appointed representatives to support the growing demand from customers requiring Shariah-compliant funding.”