If you’re wondering how you will ever get on the property ladder then help could soon be at hand, this time from the UK’s lawmakers.

Adding your rental payments to your credit score is what we do - but now the issue is going to be debated in both houses of parliament.

Today the House of Commons is to debate e-petition 186565, which was started by 27-year-old Plymouth father-of-two and self-employed roofer Jamie Pogson. The petition was signed by over 147,000 people.

Although ended by the snap General Election this year, the petition was revived in September and will now be debated, in particular Pogson's desire to see "paying rent on time recognised as evidence that mortgage re-payments can be met".

But it's not the only bill going through parliament. A second bill, this time introduced in the Lords recently by Big Issue founder John Bird, is waiting for its second reading.

It aims to compel lenders to add rental payments to a tenant’s credit score and is more specific than Pogson's. It asks that the financial watchdog the FCA change its rules so that mortgage lenders take rental and council tax payments into account when assessing a borrower’s creditworthiness.

“Though rent is largely paid in advance, it's a very, very high cost on the part of tenants. And unfairly, rental payments aren't recorded - or recognised - in the same way that mortgage payments are,” says John (pictured, above).

House of Lords

His Creditworthiness Assessment Act 2017 had its first reading in the House of Lords on 28th June and is now awaiting its second reading – on a date to be announced – while Jamie’s petition is to be debated on 23rd October at 4.30pm in Westminster Hall, sponsored by Paul Scully, MP for Sutton, Cheam & Worcester Park.

“This shows the government is serious about getting more tenants on to the property ladder,” says CreditLadder’s CEO Sheraz Dar.

“It originally said it was not going to enable parliament to debate the petition after the snap election, but has now changed its mind.

“Millions of UK tenants pay billions of pounds in rent every year and yet it doesn’t counts towards their credit history unless they’ve signed up with a service like ours.

“The government said in their General Election manifesto that they wanted to make the UK a nation of homeowners again, and this is clearly part of that commitment.”

Pic credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Diliff

CreditLadder can help you improve your credit score

If you want to improve your credit position by reporting your rent payments, CreditLadder is the only way to improve your credit score and position across all four of the main Credit Reference Agencies in the UK, namely Experian, Equifax, TransUnion and Crediva. 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 information provided in this article is for information purposes only and should not be considered as advice.