Rent and Credit > How to add your rent payments to your credit report

How to add your rent payments to your credit report

Wollit Team2 minute read · Updated 14th September 2024

If you pay rent, you might not know that you can use those payments to help improve your credit score. Here’s how to add your rent payments to your credit report, why it matters, and how it can help you in the future.

How can my rent payments improve my credit file?

In the past, rent payments didn’t affect credit history. But now, there are ways to report your rent payments, which can help your credit file look much better to lenders.

Here’s how it works:

If you don’t have much credit history, reporting your rent payments can help you build one. This is especially useful for younger renters or those new to the UK.
Even if you have credit history, adding your rent payments can show lenders that you’re a responsible person who can handle paying large bills on time and in full.
And while rent payments don’t count towards your credit score yet, all major credit reference agencies (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax) are taking steps to include it in your credit score calculation soon.

How can I add my rent payments to my credit report?

There are two ways to add your rent payments to your credit report and make it count towards your credit history.

If you are a council or social housing tenant, you can just ask your landlord to report your rental payment data to the credit reference agencies. This service is called Rental Exchange.

However, the good news is that you can easily report your rent payments yourself using one of the services available on the market. The main ones are CreditLadder, Canopy, and Wollit.

All you need to do is to sign up, link your bank account, and tell the app which payments are rent related. Then the app will do the rest.

Once you’re signed up, make sure to pay your rent on time. The service will check your payments and report them to credit agencies. Only payments made after you sign up can be reported.

After a few months, check your credit report to see if your rent payments are being recorded. You can do this for free with all the credit reference agencies. which report will show your rent payments will depend on what rent reporting service you use.

Can I add past rent payments?

Generally, you can only report rent payments made after you sign up for a service. Previous payments usually don’t count.

Can rent payments improve my credit score?

As of right now, most rent reporting does not directly affect your credit score. This is why it’s important to work on the most important part of your credit report: your payment history.

Luckily, unlike other tools, Wollit helps you not only add your rent to your credit file but also builds your payment history. It does this by reporting your subscription payments as a loan repayment to all three major credit reference agencies – Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.

In time, this can give you a chance to actually improve your credit score and to show lenders that you’re as responsible at repaying debt as you are at paying your rent.