Leading payments platform says it is “hard to believe” rent isn’t recorded by credit agencies

Rental payments platform PayProp has called for rental histories to be added to tenants’ credit scores which is says will help re-ignite the first-time buyer property market. The company, which started in South Africa but now has a substantial presence in the UK and elsewhere, says enabling tenants to use their regular rent payments to improve their credit scores would help more first time buyers get on to the property ladder, and also incentivise tenants not to pay their rent late. “Many tenants have been paying rent on time for years, if not decades. The fact that this does not carry the same weight as a mortgage payment is hard to believe,” says Neil Cobbold, CEO of PayProp in the UK (pictured, below). “Thanks to the rapid growth of the private rental sector, more tenants are paying higher rents. Taking cognisance of rent payments would therefore make perfect sense, encouraging the next generation of property buyers. “Recording and counting rent payments towards credit scores is a modern phenomenon and therefore it needs a modern solution,” Credit reference agencies and lenders in the UK are not required to take rental payment into account when ‘scoring’ borrowers, and only Experian does so…