New tenant referencing service launches today

VISTA, a tenant referencing service first announced back in November, launches today.

Insurance and referencing service HomeLet says the product will “provide true, accurate affordability assessment of applicants, and mitigate fraud risk” and comes following £3m of investment and three years of research.

It adds that the new product will see up to 70 per cent of references completed in real-time. 

HomeLet, which has developed VISTA alongside Experian, claims fraud within the lettings industry has surged by more than a third in a year, accelerated by the cost of living crisis pushing more individuals towards deceptive practices to secure rental housing. 

Andy Halstead, chief executive of HomeLet and Let Alliance, says: "VISTA is about to revolutionise tenant referencing services in the UK. Our advanced referencing process surpasses all existing solutions, providing the highest protection for agents and landlords in the face of the housing market crisis and rising fraudulent references … For the first time in the UK, tenant applicants will go through an affordability assessment that is based on much more than just earnings.”

And Scott Hardiman of Experian UK&I adds: “The solution brings Experian’s advanced analytics, data and deployment software to the letting sector, to enable more faster, fairer and more accurate decisions for customers. Increasingly, automation plays a critical role in helping businesses achieve their aims and we’re proud that our services can support them in doing so.”