New PropTech platform links rental payments to credit scores

A new PropTech platform has launched today linking tenants’ rental payments with their Experian credit histories, as well as providing reports to letting agents and landlords.

This follows a spate of interest recently in trying to include tenants’ rent histories as part of their credit scores in a bid to improve the chances of reliable tenants securing mortgages. 

The Credit Builder platform builds a rental record which tenants can share with future landlords and financial institutions including mortgage providers and other lenders.

The platform is integrated with Experian’s Rental Exchange system and provides agents with the ability to run a comprehensive rent reporting service for all of their tenancies.

The platform requires tenants to consent to the use of the rent reporting service as a condition of their tenancy agreement. Their details will then be imported into the Credit Builder platform and each subsequent rental payment they make will be automatically reconciled and reported to Experian.

Tenants wanting to review their rental record and connect with Experian to check their credit report will be able to do so via the platform’s app, which will also provide access to savings and loan offers.

One letting agency, Walton and Allen in Nottinghamshire, is cited by Credit Builder as having signed up and the tool has allowed it to have no rental arrears at all. 

“The groundswell of opinion that tenants’ rental payments should count towards their credit report is beginning to drive real change in the industry. ... With this in mind agents should consider offering a rent reporting service as this is likely to become an important consideration for new and existing tenants, as well as landlords” says Henry Yates, founder and chief executive of Credit Builder.