The route to buying your own home is probably the biggest investment you will ever make. For the majority of us, using a comparison website or talking to our existing bank is the way forward when securing a mortgage.

When looking for a mortgage most people consider the price; legal ramifications and financial aspects but a trend is arising for the cultural and religious implications too. Those that strictly follow Islamic Sharia law, have in the past been restricted to renting properties as the laws prohibits them from undertaking any loans that charge interest – these laws do not however, prohibit lending.

If you’re intention is to look for Shariah compliant ways to buy a home, HSBC is the only high street bank at the moment to offer an Islamic mortgage service. However, the UK has a host of smaller specialist banks which can help including Gatehouse Bank which was established in London in 2007. This bank follows the principles of Islamic finance and is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

United Bank Limited also operates under Islamic finance rules. Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority it was created in 2001, as a merger of the UK branches of United Bank Limited and National Bank of Pakistan.

The difference between an Islamic mortgage and a conventional one is the matter of interest on the loan and if the bank is making a profit from the product they are selling. Finance in Islam is based in community rather than making money and earning a profit.

There are three types of plans for home purchase Murabaha; Ijara and Musharaka.

Under Murahaba agreements the bank buys the property on behalf of the buyer and sell it back to you over time. Under the Ijara agreement, the bank buys the property and lends it to the homeowner on a fixed term with monthly payments similar to renting. At the end of the fixed term (and payments have completed the property is signed over. The Musharaka agreement is where the bank and the homeowner buy a share of the property. This system is one of the most common agreements in the UK and consists of the bank charging payments which is part rent and part capital so with every payment the bank share will diminish and your share increases.

The downsides to an Islamic mortgage is that they tend to be much more expensive (up to 30% more) than a conventual mortgage, and the potential home buyer will need a much larger deposit (around 60% of purchase price) and monthly repayments are higher to go down this route.