Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish guidance to encourage mortgage lenders to consider an applicant’s ability to service a loan on the basis of rental monies paid rather than a multiple of salary.

The Government is committed to helping as many first-time buyers as possible get onto the housing ladder and agrees that a history of paying rent should be able to help with this.

In 2017, the Government launched the Rent Recognition Challenge: a £2 million competition challenging the UK’s world-leading tech firms to develop innovative applications to enable tenants to record and share their rental payment data with lenders and credit reference agencies.

The Government encourages all renters to consider what options are available to them with regards to rent recognition.