Asra Housing Group has signed up to share rental payment information with the Rental Exchange, with the aim of enabling some of its 36,000 tenants to boost their credit scores and gain access to lower cost credit. The Rental Exchange is a partnership between Experian and Big Issue Invest, the investment arm of The Big Issue.
Asra Housing will submit regular information to the Rental Exchange on how its tenants pay their rent. Through the Rental Exchange, this data will be included in a secure and compliant way in credit reports to improve the detail available to help credit providers assess risk and affordability.
Amanda Hack, head of economic development, Asra Housing Group, said, “Social housing tenants don’t currently have the benefit of using their rental payment histories to build up a positive credit file. Those with a lower credit score have fewer choices available to them and may have to pay more to access loan facilities.
“The Rental Exchange is a simple, but valuable solution. Many of our tenants have rented their homes for many years, they’ve been good tenants, paying their rent continuously and on time. Currently this is not recognised on their credit file, so ensuring that rental payment data is taken into account when credit decisions are made is one way in which we can help our tenants to access mainstream financial products and services.”
