PM favourite makes first foray into housing policy

Conservative leadership frontrunner Liz Truss hs promised to allow rent to be added to tenant credit histories.

Campaigners fighting for the change for years hailed it as a potential breakthrough, which would pave the way for many renters to own their own homes.

Truss (pictured) told a Tory hustings meeting she wanted to “unlock” home ownership for thousands of young people.

The current foreign secretary, who is ahead in the polls and now favourite to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson, says she will encourage the Bank of England to change the criteria.

She wants lenders to adopt this approach, as the majority don’t allow rent payments to be included as proof someone can afford a mortgage.

Scandalous

Sheraz Dar, CEO of CreditLadder.co.uk, (pictured) says: “We would very much welcome rent payments being used as part of the affordability assessment criteria for a mortgage. Our view has always been that these payments should be factored into all lending decisions.

“It’s scandalous that would-be first-time buyers whose potential mortgage repayments would often be less than their existing rent payments cannot get onto the housing ladder.”

This view was supported by Chris Hutchinson, CEO of Canopy, (pictured) who says: “Rent makes up over 30% of the average renters outgoings and given that the majority pay their rent in full and on time each month, it’s unfair that this doesn’t get taken into account when they are looking to secure a mortgage.

“We are hugely in favour of this becoming policy so more renters can benefit.”

More than 147,000 people signed a petition calling for rent to be included in mortgage applications, in 2017, which led to a debate in Parliament, but the Government rejected the idea.