Sale of Alcohol Not Permitted in Richmond House

UK MPs will move out of the Houses of Parliament for the first time since the Second World War, while the building has a £4bn facelift according to a report by the Times Newspaper of London.

UK Sukuk of 2014

Members of Parliament are likely to be moved to Richmond House and were surprised to learn that the building forms an asset used to structure the UK Sovereign Sukuk in 2014, meaning the sale of alcohol will be forbidden in order to comply with the spirit of the terms of the sukuk.

A source close to the matter stated that although no clause in the contract specifically forbids the sale of alcohol at a future date, alcohol would not be served as the Sharia committee which approved the structure of the deal may revoke its previous approval, thereby damaging London’s credentials as a leading global centre for Islamic finance.

Richmond House, which currently hosts the health department, is one of three government buildings held by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) owned by the UK state under the HM Treasury UK Sovereign Sukuk PLC structure. The other building is Wellington House and a property on Whitehall.