Halaaal mortgages?

Is this type of loan where no interest can be charged? So it is structured as a Hire Purchase deal?

I'm not convinced that's a particularly appropriate term, but if you mean the way by which Moslems buy houses (by having an intermediary buy the property for them and sell it onto them for more than that) then, um, yes. Mind, it does strike me that as religious observance goes, it's a bit like the Irish managing to avoid legalising abortion by pointing out that unwantedly-pregnant Irish women can always get on a ferry.

unwantedly-pregnant

That is the murahaba version, as I understand it?

And my version is the ijara? HSBC bank will "lend" on this basis.

Is this any use?

Just a thought, but say someone, not necessarily a Muslim (as it is available to all) took out one of these mortgages through say HSBC, and then at a later stage had to go into a nursing home.

Am I correct in saying that, as that person would not legally own that house, that the Local Authority could therefore not force its sale in order to pay for the care?

"Many Muslims in Britain, of which there are currently £3 million"

Am I reading that right...

:-)