The Purpose Coalition partners with ClearScore to help level the playing field for renters

The Purpose Coalition is delighted to announce a new strategic partnership with ClearScore, one of the UK’s leading fintech businesses, focused on fairer recognition of rental payments and improving financial opportunity for renters.

The partnership comes at an important moment for renters across the UK. People across the UK demonstrate financial responsibility each month through regular rent payments, yet that behaviour is not always reflected in the information used to build their credit profile.

This can particularly affect people with limited or thinner credit histories, including younger renters and those looking to strengthen their financial position as they work towards longer-term goals such as home ownership.

ClearScore is developing a new product designed to help address this challenge. Its rent reporting proposition, due to launch later this year, will provide renters with a free and optional way to make their regular rental payments more visible within their credit profile.

Through the partnership, The Purpose Coalition will work alongside ClearScore to explore the wider challenge facing renters and how government, industry and technology can work together to ensure responsible rental payments are better recognised, helping to level the playing field and widen access to financial opportunity.

Over the coming months, the partnership will bring together research, consumer insight, stakeholder engagement and policy development, culminating in the publication of the Credit Where It’s Due report.

Rt Hon Justine Greening, Chair of The Purpose Coalition, said:

“For millions of people, paying rent is one of the biggest and most important financial commitments they make every month. Yet responsible rental payments are not always recognised in the same way as other forms of financial behaviour.

“That matters because financial opportunity is an important part of social mobility. ClearScore is using technology to develop a practical solution that can help make responsible rental payments more visible and give renters greater recognition for the commitments they are already meeting.

“Through Credit Where It’s Due, we want to understand the barriers renters face, identify what more government and industry can do and help ensure innovation translates into greater financial opportunity for people across the country.”

Justin Basini, Co-Founder and CEO of ClearScore, said:

“Renters are already proving that they can handle their finances, now it’s time to get some recognition. We are making it easy for rent to count towards a credit score.

“We will use open banking technology to add rent payments to all three credit reports, for free, and ultimately help create a fairer financial system.

“Our partnership with The Purpose Coalition will allow us to look beyond the technology itself and explore the wider challenge facing renters, bringing together evidence, consumer experiences and policymakers to identify what more can be done to level the playing field.”

The partnership reflects The Purpose Coalition’s commitment to working with leading businesses to identify practical solutions to the UK’s biggest opportunity challenges, bringing together business leadership, innovation and evidence-based policy to help more people fulfil their potential.

Justin Basini, Co-Founder and CEO of ClearScore, said:

“Renters are already proving that they can handle their finances, now it’s time to get some recognition. We are making it easy for rent to count towards a credit score.

“We will use open banking technology to add rent payments to all three credit reports, for free, and ultimately help create a fairer financial system.

“Our partnership with The Purpose Coalition will allow us to look beyond the technology itself and explore the wider challenge facing renters, bringing together evidence, consumer experiences and policymakers to identify what more can be done to level the playing field.”

The partnership reflects The Purpose Coalition’s commitment to working with leading businesses to identify practical solutions to the UK’s biggest opportunity challenges, bringing together business leadership, innovation and evidence-based policy to help more people fulfil their potential.