ⓘ CAPITAL AT RISK
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Grow your deposit with a Pfida GYS Home account
A flexible investment savings account that helps you grow your deposit amount whilst helping others buy a home free from debt or interest.
Start growing your savings with as little as £5,000.
Earn returns, build Community Points through SaveTogether as you help other families into their homes, and get exclusive rental rates.
Here’s how we stand out
Our customers often ask us how we compare to other savings accounts out there. We’ve gone one step further to show you the difference between having a GYS Home account and not having one – especially if you’re looking to be a homeowner.
Feature
GYS Home
Home finance waiting list
High street bank 1 savings
High street bank 2 savings
Minimum deposit amount
£5,000
£0
£1
£1
Expected annual profit rate
0.5%
0.00%
0.55%
0.65%
Net benefit after Zakat saving
3.00%
Social purpose
Asset-backed investment
–
Use as deposit / initial equity amount
–
–
–
Position on the priority waiting list for home finance
Access to best available rates of home finance
Shortest wait times
Minimum withdrawal notice period
3 months
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–
–
Your biggest reward.
Help other families into their homes, build towards your own, and enjoy exclusive rental rates.
As you save your downpayment through GYS Home, you’ll also build Community Points through SaveTogether. You earn them for helping other families in our community buy their homes.
Your Community Points target is based on the amount of Home Finance you require. Once you reach your Community Points target and meet our eligibility requirements, you become eligible to apply for Pfida Home Finance. You can follow your progress on your dashboard at any time. See what your timeline to home finance might look like here.
As a GYS Home account holder, you’re helping others while you build towards your own home, and we want to reward that. So when you’re financed for a home, you’ll get access to exclusive rental rates.
So how do GYS Home returns work?
3. Process checks
We process your application and carry out eligibility checks. Sometimes this can take a little while, around 8 weeks, as we need to carry out lots of checks to ensure we comply with regulatory requirements.
How your money will be used.
Traditionally, your savings would usually be sitting in a bank account. The bank would then lend out your money on loans and mortgages that trap people in debt and interest. In return, the bank may pay you interest for using your money.
We work in a similar way, but we make sure it’s ethical and equitable by making you a shareholder in a ring-fenced entity called Pfida Finance PLC. This entity, of which you become an owner, directly owns each property and/or has a legal charge over each of them, granting you an ultimate right over each property too. Through this mechanism, we are able to give you a higher return that is asset-backed, equitable and shariah-compliant.
What happens to my funds?
Ring-fenced portfolio
We use a ring-fenced entity, called Pfida Finance PLC, which owns each property directly and carries no debt. When you invest you get shares in this entity, which grants you an ultimate right over each of the underlying assets. This entity will only be used for purchasing properties in the UK.
Fully asset-backed
Each property is directly owned and / or secured with a legal charge to minimise risk. The shares you receive give you a legal right to a portion of any profits made, and make you a part of our success.
Funds are deployed after completion, never before
We only release invested funds once we are certain we will complete, for each property. To get to completion, home finance customers go through very thorough checks looking at a number of aspects, such as affordability, payment history and credit checks. We also perform thorough checks on the property too, through valuations and surveys.
These funds are not used to run Pfida as a business
Your invested funds are never used to run Pfida’s business or operational costs, we use them solely on the properties we purchase as homes.
Shariah-compliant
Our mudaraba investment structure has been reviewed and approved by Sheikh Haitham Al-Haddad (Islamic Council of Europe) in his capacity as independent Shariah scholar. It has also been internally scrutinised and approved by Sheikh Salman Hasan, our in-house scholar.
FAQs
Yes, as long as you have a minimum of £50,000 in your GYS Home account, you will be able to open a Grow-Your-Savings account. This is subject to you to keeping a minimum of £50,000 in your GYS Home account at all times. Any additional funds over this amount can be used to invest in a Grow-Your-Savings, as long as you meet the criteria.
If you have a Grow-Your-Savings account and would like to apply for a GYS Home account to join the priority waiting list, you will need to either close your Grow-Your-Savings account or invest a minimum of £50,000 into your GYS Home account to be able to keep your Grow-Your-Savings account active.
If you are a GYS Home account holder but aren’t looking to buy a home with us, you can close your GYS Home account and move your funds to a Grow-Your-Savings account, as long as you meet the criteria.
If your time on the waiting list arrives, but you no longer need financing from us, just let us know.
You do not have an obligation to proceed with the property purchase at this time. If you know someone who is currently on the home finance waiting list, you can let them take your place. This means they will be contacted to kickstart the financing process.
If you decide to choose this option, you will lose your spot and will need to re-join the waiting list if you decide you later need financing.
Alternatively, if you just need a little longer and don’t want to gift your position that’s fine too. Let us know when you are ready with at least 3 months’ notice and we can start the process for you then instead.
Need more help? Visit our help centre for more information.
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