Nowruz, the traditional Iranian festival of spring, marks the New Year among Iranians and citizens across the Black Sea basin and central Asia. As such, many of us will be reflecting on not only the year gone by, but also our plans and aspirations for the coming months.
Celebrated on the vernal equinox—usually occurring on or around March 21st—Nowruz aligns with celebrations of the coming of spring. Iranian families across the globe gather during this time to celebrate. Many will prepare with a ‘spring cleaning’ of the home, before gathering around a table with a ‘Haft-Seen’ display to exchange gifts.
The Haft-Seen is a tabletop arrangement of items displayed during Nowruz, featuring: ‘Sabzeh’ (wheat); ‘Samanu’ (sweet pudding); ‘Senjed’ (dried Persian olive); ‘Seer’ (garlic); ‘Seeb’ (apple); ‘Somāq’ (sumac); ‘Serkeh’ (vinegar); and ‘Sekeh’ (coin). These items represent health, greenery, wisdom, regeneration, disinfection, power, patience, contentment and wealth. Other items are also sometimes used in the Haft-Seen, such as a Quran or the poetry book of Hafiz.
The symbolic meaning of these items clearly reflects the significance of this time of year for many Iranians around the world. Just as January is a time for New Year’s resolutions, many Iranian clients will be gathering their affairs and planning for the year ahead.
This can be as small as a personal resolution for self-improvement, or as significant as major financial planning. For example, you could be considering a new property investment, or looking at refinancing your existing assets.
Mortgages for Iranian clients
Whether you are an Iranian national living in the UK or an individual who lives abroad and simply wishes to invest in UK property, you may already know that many UK lenders consider Iran a ‘high risk’ country and so will not lend to Iranian clients. This is often simply because increased levels of due diligence are required for foreign clients, making mortgages for Iranian clients harder to arrange.
However, we understand that such clients play a huge role in stimulating the global economy, and so we have always striven to find solutions and mortgages for Iranian clients. We have proven experience in doing this, and a strong network of lenders – including private banks and Sharia-compliant lenders– who are happy to offer mortgages for Iranian borrowers.
The Enness network
With offices across London, Monaco and the Middle East, Enness prides itself on its ability to assist clients from around the world. The Enness team itself includes brokers and support staff of many different nationalities, speaking many languages—for example, I am Iranian and am always delighted to assist clients in English or Farsi.
If you are looking to make any changes to your property finance in the coming year, I would be happy to have a conversation with you to see if we at Enness can assist in any way.
