Kuwait Finance House (UK)
The rebranded Ahli United Bank UK, writing Sharia-compliant property finance from £2m to £50m at a published minimum margin of two per cent over SONIA.
What they do
Kuwait Finance House PLC took over Ahli United Bank's UK business and rebranded it in January 2025. It funds investment property at up to 65 per cent loan to value and development at up to 55 per cent of gross development value, from £2m to £50m, using commodity murabaha structures rather than interest-bearing loans. Pricing is published as a floor rather than concealed: a minimum margin of two per cent over three-month SONIA with an arrangement fee from half a per cent, and hedging on request. Assets covered include offices, industrial, retail, student accommodation and residential portfolios in England and Wales.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
Published bands and a published margin floor make this an unusually easy lender to benchmark, which matters when the rest of the Sharia-compliant market quotes only on enquiry. A £3–15m property requirement sits in the lower half of the range, and the bank funds development as well as standing investment. For a borrower who needs Islamic structures at institutional size, it is one of a handful of realistic homes.
Where they are not the fit
The Sharia screen excludes income from alcohol, tobacco, gambling, pork and conventional finance, and houses in multiple occupation are specifically excluded from the residential portfolio product. Coverage is confirmed for England and Wales only. There is no trading-company or cashflow lending, so the property has to carry the credit.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Investment property: minimum margin 2%+ over 3-month SONIA; arrangement fee 0.50%+. Hedging available on request. Development terms by negotiation
- Speed to terms
- Not published
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- No stated sponsor-backed appetite; Islamic bank structure likely suits non-leveraged or modestly leveraged borrowers
- Where they lend
- UK - England and Wales confirmed. Scotland and Northern Ireland not specified on the product page
- How they decide
- Direct enquiry to property finance team; indicative terms issued on a deal-specific basis. No published published timetable for offer turnaround
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
Kuwait Finance House (UK) lends through 2 separate books. Which one reads a deal decides the security, the covenant package and the band, so the question is rarely whether Kuwait Finance House (UK) lends, but which of these would own it.
Investment property finance
- Facility
- £2m to £50m
- Security
- First legal charge over UK investment property; max 65% loan to value
- Funds
- Acquisition · Refinance
- Rules out
- Sharia screen: no alcohol/tobacco/gambling/pork/conventional-finance income; HMOs excluded from residential portfolios; England and Wales only (Scotland/Northern Ireland not confirmed)
Development finance
- Facility
- £2m to £50m
- Security
- First legal charge; max 55% GDV or 65% of total cost
- Funds
- Acquisition · Refinance
- Rules out
- Sharia screen: no alcohol/tobacco/gambling/pork/conventional-finance income
Limits that apply across the firm
Stated limits, taken from Kuwait Finance House (UK)’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.
- No appetite in adult, alcohol, gambling, hmos or pork
How they sit against the category
- Its published ceiling of £50m is among the 4 highest of the 42 challenger and specialist banks here.
- 18 of the 42 publish an indicative price at all; it is one of them.
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 Kuwait Finance House (UK) write?
Published facilities run £2m to £50m. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.
Does Kuwait Finance House (UK) lend to companies without a private-equity sponsor?
Yes. Kuwait Finance House (UK) lends to owner-managed and corporate borrowers, and publishes no private-equity sponsor proposition.
Where does Kuwait Finance House (UK) lend?
UK - England and Wales confirmed. Scotland and Northern Ireland not specified on the product page.
What does Kuwait Finance House (UK) lend?
The published product set is investment property finance, development finance. Published sector focus is industrial, office, residential portfolios, retail, student accommodation.
Sources
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.