Glaswegian resident Justin Armstrong has rented his current home for five years but has been in the private rented sector for most of his life.

The 44-year-old works on the buses for a well-known transport company with routes all over the UK and recently decided it was time to upgrade his credit score.

Although Justin says he’s always paid his bills on time, his credit score wasn’t in great shape, he admits

He then spotted an advert for CreditLadder on Facebook and completed some research into its service, realising that because he pays his rent on time he had “nothing to lose”.

“I wanted to improve my credit score in case I needed to apply for a credit card or loan in the future and then I will be able to access the best rates,” he says.

Property ladder

But for the moment getting on the property ladder is some way off: “Like many people these days my employment isn’t that secure so I’m still cautious about taking on a mortgage to buy a home,” he says.

“But although I say that, I’ve paid the rent for five years, so why couldn’t I pay a mortgage?”.

CreditLadder is not the only service Justin has signed up to recently. He’s also opened an account with challenger bank Starling.

He says he’d been with Barclays for some years but wanted to try something new. But the deciding factor was that his Barclays card couldn’t be used via Android Pay while Starling’s could.

“I like being able to go out but not have to take my cards with me,” he says. “Although I’m usually so tired after work that I don’t go out in Glasgow that often.”

Remember, CreditLadder can help you improve your credit score.

CreditLadder can improve your credit position by reporting your rent payments. CreditLadder is the first way to improve your credit score and position across all three of the main Credit Reference Agencies in the UK, namely Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Building up a high credit score has a lot of benefits, including helping you access finance at better rates - this can also help save you money. CreditLadder also runs a free mortgage application service in partnership with Tembo which will tell you how much you could borrow.

Remember the content provided in this article is for information purposes only and should not be considered as advice.