Rent and Credit > Does paying rent build credit?

Does paying rent build credit?

Wollit Team2 minute read · Updated 23rd July 2024

Yes, paying rent can help build credit in the UK, but it requires a few additional steps.

This is because rent payments used to not be reported to the credit reference agencies, meaning they did not directly impact your credit rating.

However, in recent years, a handful of services and apps have been launched that allow you to get credit for paying your rent on time. Here is how they work.

How can I add my rent to my credit file?

There are two ways to add your rent to your credit report:

One is by using Experian’s Rental Exchange service. If you are a council or social housing tenant, ask your landlord to report your rental payment data into the Rental Exchange. If you are a private tenant, and your landlord or agency has more than 500 properties, you can ask them to report your rental payments into the Rental Exchange.
The other option is to report the payments yourself using one of the websites or apps that work with Experian’s Rental Exchange.

One of these apps is Wollit. Wollit allows you to report your rent payments to Experian and have them added to your credit report, helping to build your credit history and showing lenders that you are a responsible person who pays their bills on time.

If you want to add your rent payments to the reports from other credit reference agencies, like Equifax or TransUnion, you can also use a service called CreditLadder.

CreditLadder allows you to report your rent to Equifax, TransUnion, and even Crediva, a smaller credit agency, as well. Unfortunately, using only a service that just reports rent won’t make a difference in your credit score.

Does rent reporting improve my credit score?

No, for now, rent reporting doesn’t directly impact your credit score. This is because credit reference agencies do not include rent payments in your actual credit score calculation.

Some of them, like Experian, have mentioned that they’re considering including rent in the credit score maths in the future, but that hasn’t happened yet.

Still, having rent on your credit report can help you, especially if you’re new to the UK and have a thin credit file, or if you have had an adverse event (like a missed payment or a default) and want to “balance it” with a new history of on-time payments. It basically tells lenders that you do pay your bills on time and are overall a reliable person.

This is why it’s important to focus on your credit history, not only on your rental one.

The good news is that Wollit can help you do this as well. Wollit works by reporting a fixed-fee monthly subscription to all the main credit reference agencies. This helps you build a history of timely debt repayments, which is the factor that actually matters for your credit score.