Al Rayan Bank
The UK's largest Sharia-compliant retail bank, whose structured real estate team funds residential and commercial investment property and exit bridging from £2.5m to £32m.
What they do
Al Rayan Bank is a PRA-authorised UK bank funded by Sharia-compliant deposits. Its structured real estate team, run out of the London head office with a Birmingham presence since 2024, finances residential and commercial investment property and provides exit bridging against completed schemes, in facilities from £2.5m to £32m across England, Wales and Scotland. Returns are taken as profit rate or rent rather than interest, arrangement fees are negotiable and there are no early settlement charges. Around a quarter of its commercial property clients are not Muslim.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
Where a £3–15m requirement is secured on income-producing property, the band fits comfortably inside what this bank writes, and the structure is bespoke rather than programmatic. It is the obvious first call for a borrower who needs or prefers Sharia-compliant terms, and a serious comparison for anyone financing a residential or commercial investment portfolio, since the economics are competitive whatever the borrower's own position on Islamic finance. Exit bridging on a completed development is a defined product rather than an accommodation.
Where they are not the fit
There is no corporate cashflow lending here: the bank finances property, not trading businesses, and does not fund owner-occupied premises or ground-up development. The Sharia screen is an underwriting test as well as a principle, so property whose income derives from alcohol, gambling, tobacco, pork or conventional interest is excluded. Lending is limited to England, Wales and Scotland, with no Northern Ireland or overseas security.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Not published
- Speed to terms
- Not published
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- Both - serves UK and GCC individual and corporate customers; 25% of CPF customers non-Muslim; no explicit sponsor-backed exclusion but product is property-investment not leveraged-buyout
- Where they lend
- England, Wales and Scotland only; London and regional (Birmingham office opened Jul 2024); no Northern Ireland, no overseas
- How they decide
- Relationship-manager led; bespoke underwriting; SRE team based at London HQ; dedicated team described as operating 'over a decade'; case-by-case credit assessment
As published by the lender and last reviewed August 2026. Terms quoted on a deal are set by the credit, not by a published band.
The desks that lend
Al Rayan Bank lends through 3 separate books. Which one reads a deal decides the security, the covenant package and the band, so the question is rarely whether Al Rayan Bank lends, but which of these would own it.
Structured real estate — residential investment finance
- Facility
- £2.5m to £32m
- Security
- First charge over UK investment property (Diminishing Musharakah or Ijara structure)
- Funds
- Acquisition · Refinance
- Rules out
- Sharia screen: properties deriving primary income from alcohol, gambling, pork, tobacco or conventional-interest businesses excluded; No owner-occupied properties or trading businesses; No development finance (exit/take-out re-fi considered case-by-case); England, Wales and Scotland only - no overseas or Northern Ireland property
Structured real estate — commercial investment finance
- Facility
- £2.5m to £32m
- Security
- First charge over UK commercial investment property
- Funds
- Acquisition · Refinance
- Rules out
- Sharia screen: properties deriving primary income from alcohol, gambling, pork, tobacco or conventional-interest businesses excluded; Supermarket tenancies assessed case-by-case; No development finance; England, Wales and Scotland only
Structured real estate — residential exit bridging finance
- Facility
- £2.5m to £32m
- Security
- First charge over UK residential property
- Funds
- Refinance
- Rules out
- Exit bridging only - not entry/development bridging; Sharia-compliant structure required; England, Wales and Scotland only
Limits that apply across the firm
Stated limits, taken from Al Rayan Bank’s own published criteria, beyond the ones each desk carries above. A limit is where a lender starts from, not where it always ends: several of these move on a strong enough credit.
- Variable profit rate only on commercial product (no fixed rate)
- No appetite in adult, adult content, alcohol, alcohol (licensed premises) or crypto
How they sit against the category
- Its published ceiling is £32m; 14 of the 42 challenger and specialist banks here go at least as high.
- Like 24 of the 42, it publishes no indicative price — a margin comes from a conversation, not a page.
- It lends through 3 distinct desks, where most firms here run one or two.
Counted across the 42 challenger & specialist banks in this directory, on what each one publishes. What a lender discloses and what it will do are different things.
Questions this page answers
How large a facility does Al Rayan Bank write?
Published facilities run £2.5m to £32m. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.
Does Al Rayan Bank lend to companies without a private-equity sponsor?
Yes. Al Rayan Bank lends to owner-managed and corporate borrowers, and publishes no private-equity sponsor proposition.
Where does Al Rayan Bank lend?
England, Wales and Scotland only; London and regional (Birmingham office opened Jul 2024); no Northern Ireland, no overseas.
What does Al Rayan Bank lend?
The published product set is structured real estate — residential investment finance, structured real estate — commercial investment finance, structured real estate — residential exit bridging finance. Published sector focus is commercial investment, residential investment.
On the record
2024: £24.5m office-to-residential investment finance, Newbury and Bracknell (Med — referenced in expansion announcement.
2024: £19m investment finance against 245 residential apartments, Luton (Med — referenced in expansion announcement.
December 2022: £30m refinancing for MCR Property Group, High Wycombe residential development (High — press release.
2020: examples: £15m Harrow-on-the-Hill; £15m Ashford and Slough; £11m Newbury; £15m Borehamwood (High — CPF milestone press release.
Sources: alrayanbank.co.uk
This profile is a curated reference note drawn from public sources, not financial advice or a recommendation. Appetite and terms change; a lender's fit for a given credit is established by approaching it, not inferred from a page.