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Tenants to have Rent Payment History Matched with Mortgage Criteria in UK First
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
Private tenants can now have their rent payment history matched with mortgage criteria from the country’s biggest building society in a UK first.
Thanks to a collaboration between CreditLadder and Nationwide, tenants who pay their rent on time can now have their rent payment history matched with the building society’s mortgage criteria, in line with the Government’s Rent Recognition Challenge, which was launched in the 2017 Autumn Budget.
The scheme was a £2m competition for firms to develop applications to help tenants boost their credit scores and get onto the property ladder quicker and more easily.
Now, for the first time, data accessed via Open Banking will be used to help tenants find out if they are eligible for a mortgage with Nationwide.
CreditLadder can analyse the income and expenditure data of its users, and overlay it against the building society’s qualifying mortgage criteria.
Tenants who meet the criteria, and continue to pay their rent on time, will be prompted to discuss their options with Nationwide’s mortgage consultants and apply for a loan, if they wish.
While there is no guarantee that users will be accepted for a mortgage, those who do not qualify will still receive periodical checks to see if their circumstances have changed.
Sheraz Dar, the CEO of CreditLadder, says: “Tenants already using the CreditLadder service do so to improve their credit rating, as well as looking to increase their chances of being approved for a mortgage.
“With the service now live, the relationship is the first of its kind between a rent reporting service and a mortgage provider in the UK.”
They add: “Working with Nationwide is a key plank in our plans to help those who dream of owning their own home to realise their aspirations.”
CreditLadder claims to be the first and biggest rent recognition platform in the UK, which enables tenants to add their rent payment history to their credit score.
The company was a final stage winner of the Rent Recognition Challenge and became one of 20 businesses chosen from almost 100 to join the Treasury-supported Tech Nation fintech programme.
Tech Nation’s Greg Michel comments: “It’s great to see CreditLadder grow as a business and find another way to help people reach their life goals by improving their credit score. We are proud to have them as alumni.”
