Parliament to debate rental payment credit rating plan

Private tenants who are prompt with their rental payments may soon see their credit score boosted, which in turn could make it easier for them to get a foot on the housing ladder.

This comes after the news Parliament is to debate the idea of taking rental payments into account when people make an application for a mortgage.

The debate will take place following a petition on the issue raised by Plymouth construction worker Jamie Pogson attracted 147,307 signatures. This was substantially more than the 100,000 required to force a debate in Parliament.

Typically, credit rating agencies do not routinely include rental payments when calculating credit scores. This means a tenant could find it difficult to access a mortgage, even if they have a long history of prompt and full rental payments.

However, a recent survey of nearly 3,000 buy-to-let landlords carried out by the RLA discovered that 61% of landlords would support rental payments being added to credit histories, just in the same way as mortgage payments.

Including rent payments in this way will make it easier for landlords to ascertain a more accurate assessment of a prospective tenants’ credit and rental payment history.

With many tenants wanting to buy a house of their own, it is absurd rent payment is not routinely included when undertaking credit checks for mortgage applications.

Moving to such a scheme would help not just tenants, but also landlords by giving them a clearer sense of whether a prospective tenant has historically paid their rent in full and on time.