A bid to allow good tenants’ rent records count towards their creditworthiness has taken a step forward thanks to Big Issue founder Lord Bird.
His Creditworthiness Assessment Bill received widespread all-party support in the House of Lords when it went through its Committee Stage on Friday; an earlier fear that it could be derailed by amendments proved unfounded as the amendments were withdrawn.
Lord Bird’s Bill addresses the fact that at the moment, rental payments of the UK’s 11m renters do not contribute to their creditworthiness in the same way as, for example, mortgage payments are.
“If there are any unintended consequences then it is our duty to look at legislation and not simply write-off 80 per cent of people in order to protect 20 when the best thing you can do to protect them is to find out who they are, get very close to them and embrace them. Those are the people I know, the people I work with and the people I come from and there is absolutely no way I would ever come close to grassing them up” he told peers on Friday.
The proposed legislation had its First Reading last June and then a Second reading in November; it now moves to the Commons later this year.
Substantial numbers of lettings bodies like NALS and credit organisations such as Experian are broadly in favour of the proposal.
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This is a positive step forward and is the testament of the work by Lord Bird and his team in progressing this important matter. This could have a significant positive impact for those that lenders typically ignore and is something that we strongly support at CreditLadder.
This is a great opportunity for agents to get ahead of the curve and to integrate rent reporting into their new tenancies ahead of any legislative changes. We're already working with a large number of agents who are keen to differentiate their agency, reward tenants for good behaviour and to manage their arrears by encouraging on-time payments. Please do get in touch if you want any further information.
Asa Bentley, CreditLadder.
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