Halal Mortgage Application Process

Marieee

Hello,
we are currently in the process of selling our home to buyers who are applying for a halal mortgage. 

We had an update today that our estate agents should be hearing from them this week to arrange the valuation. Does anyone know if this is usually the last stage in the application process before an offer is issued when it comes to halal mortgages? 

Their solicitors haven’t responded to the draft contracts issued at the beginning of December as they said it’s best to wait until the offer has come as halal mortgages usually result in a lot of questions and going back & forth. So been a lot of waiting around on our end, so really hoping the valuation is a good sign we’re almost there!

Any experience anyone has of halal mortgages would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance

Chronotrigger

My brother purchased a house with a halal/islamic mortgage last month. It didn't actually take him that long to complete compared to a regular mortgage. I will ask if there were any further bits after the valuation and get back to you.

NizamPatel

Hello,

we are currently in the process of selling our home to buyers who are applying for a halal mortgage. 

We had an update today that our estate agents should be hearing from them this week to arrange the valuation. Does anyone know if this is usually the last stage in the application process before an offer is issued when it comes to halal mortgages? 

Hi

If the sale was agreed some time ago and it only just coming up for valuation, I suspect the bank will be Gatehouse Bank (the other big provider is Al Rayan Bank and they do the valuation first).  So if it is now ready for valuation, the buyer should get an offer within 3 working days (unless there are issues with the valuation report) - so yes, normally last stage (if it's Gatehouse Bank); I deal with them on a daily basis (I'm a broker).

Their solicitors haven’t responded to the draft contracts issued at the beginning of December as they said it’s best to wait until the offer has come as halal mortgages usually result in a lot of questions and going back & forth. So been a lot of waiting around on our end, so really hoping the valuation is a good sign we’re almost there!

Again, if it's Gatehouse Bank, this is not true.  They are just using the bank offer as an excuse if they are busy.  When banks like Al Rayan Bank launched their product, they relied on their own solicitor doing all the du diligence and reporting to them so yes, the bank solicitor could ask a lot of questions.  Inexperienced solicitors always struggle with bank queries (partly because they waste too much time challenging the bank sols instead of just answering the questions); however, Gatehouse Bank relies on a "certificate on title" which means they are relying on the customer's solicitor to do all his checks - there is no reason why they cant start making their enquiries now.  If they have dealt with them before, they should already have a copy of the banks checklist they would normally send post offer so they can easily use any old checklist and start ticking things off whilst they wait for the pack to come through.  Like @Chronotrigger said, it shouldn't take much longer at legal stage than a regular mortgage.