Credit Score Builder for Tenants

Credit Score Builder for Tenants.

A new rental payment history platform has launched with a view to making life easier for both estate agents, lettings agents, landlords and tenants.

Credit Builder has been launched the fill the gap, following a 140,000 ‘signature’ online petition last year, the try and get mortgage lenders to include rental payment history when assessing the suitability and affordability of a mortgage.

The simple problem is this:

• Rents are at an all-time high.
• Rents are often more expensive on a property rather than a mortgage if you were to buy the property.
• Given the credit crunch 10 years ago, mortgage lenders are required to have much greater checks on income and affordability when you apply for mortgage.

This means that many first time buyer mortgage applicants are being rejected despite the fact that the mortgage may be cheaper than the rent they are already paying and have been paying for many months if not years.

Comment

If you have demonstrated that you can afford your monthly rent, without arrears, why would this change when/if you have an equivalent mortgage.  Estate agents and letting agents are being encouraged to subscribe to the service, which should then start to integrate with the leading credit referencing agencies such as Experian and Equifax.  This then too have a ‘knock on’ effect with mortgage lenders being able to see the ‘clean’ rental payment history of a prospective mortgage borrower.

Not only that, it should also help and protect landlords from new, prospective tenants with a poor history of rental arrears.