Friday, 3 February 2017

Improve your credit score by paying your rent

The Big Issue has teamed up with credit score agency Experian to launch The Rental Exchange, a unique credit scoring system designed specifically for renters.

Letting agents or housing providers send the renters payment information to The Renal Exchange who in turn use the payment history of on time rental payments to build a credit score

The service cost nothing for tenants, landlords or agents to sign up to and is also tailored for people who pay their rent via housing benefit, who would normally have great difficulty in building up a credit history

The Rental exchange is designed primarily for agents and housing associations to upload payment data, however many private renters do not use an agent or rent through local authority or housing association, The Rental Exchange has thought of that.

Running parallel to The Rental Exchange is Credit Ladder this provides private renters with the same benefit of building up credit history.

The tenant pays Credit Ladder their rent directly, Credit Ladder then pay the landlord the same day and the on time payment history is used to build up a credit score.

In addition to this, the service also allows the renter to build up an online ID which will help when applying for credit, opening a bank account and even arrange a better utilities tariff, or qualify to pay for gas/electricity via a non-prepay tariff

As a private tenant I have personally signed up to credit ladder and as a portfolio manager for a homeless charity I am also signing up all of our tenants to The Rental Exchange to help them build a credit history.





No comments:

Post a Comment