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Tenant creditworthiness platform CreditLadder passes 1,000-branch mark

Proptech firm is one of half a dozen platforms now enabling tenants to add their rental payment history to their credit histories.

Nigel Lewis

 

Rental payment recognition platform CreditLadder says it now has over 1,000 letting agent branches who have tenants on the service, making it the most widely available in the UK’s rapidly growing market for creditworthiness improvement, it claims.

Started up in 2016 and based in London, until recently CreditLadder was alone in the private rented sector but it’s been joined by several competitors since after, in December 2017, HM Treasury announced a £2 million Rent Recognition Challenge to help kickstart innovation within the creditworthiness sector.

These include Bud, Canopy, MoveMe and RentalStep, all of which are now involved in a feisty battle for market share, and a slice of the £2 million government funding. As The Negotiator reported last month, Canopy recently signed a deal with the John Lewis Partnership to help its employees improve their credit scores.

Rent default

Many of these services, including CreditLadder, claim their service helps letting agents differentiate themselves in crowded rental markets, enables agents to offer landlords a ‘value add’ to their service, and that tenants using them are less likely to default on their rent. This helps agents and landlords attract more reliable renters, it is claimed.

Sheraz Dar, CreditLadder, image“We’ve always believed good behaviour should be rewarded and that tenants should see an improved credit score if they pay their rent on time,” says CreditLadder CEO Sheraz Dar.

CreditLadder claims agents who adopt its service have seen rent arrears of under 0.5%, and that “thousands” of tenants are already reporting rent via its service.

“Having reported over £20m in rental payments so far, agents can trust our ability to manage what can be a complicated process without there being any burden on them. It’s a win-win for all involved.”

Recent agents to have adopted the CreditLadder service include Buttercross Estates in Newark, Rush Witt & Wilson in Hastings, Biscayne Properties in Bradford and Crowe Property in Bedford.

“My husband and I rent our home at the moment and came across CreditLadder online and, as well as signing up to use the service ourselves, I thought it would be good to offer the service to the tenants who live in the 100 or so properties I manage at work,” says Abi Friar, Property Manager at Buttercross Estates (pictured, left).

“Why should mortgage holders have their payments added to their credit histories, but tenants can’t?”

 

June 11, 2018

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