According to MoneySavingExpert, the Leeds Building Society has become the first mortgage lender to use Netflix, Spotify and council tax payments to ‘boost’ the chances of customers getting mortgages.
Leeds Building Society has become the first mortgage lender in the UK to start using payment data recorded on Experian Boost when considering home loan applications.
Homebuyers can now use regular Netflix, Spotify and council tax payments to increase their chances of getting accepted for a mortgage. This new partnership between Leeds Building Society and credit information company Experian should allow extra evidence of a borrower’s good financial track record to be factored into lending decisions.
During testing of this new system, 7.5% of the society’s applicants would have improved their credit scores using the new system, the firms say.
Leeds Building Society chief executive Richard Fearon says:
“We’re proud to be the first mortgage lender in the UK to make it easier for aspiring homeowners by incorporating free, ‘boosted’ credit scores.
“This will particularly help younger borrowers, first-time buyers and anyone on lower incomes who face the toughest challenge to prove their ability to repay.
“Often through no fault of their own, these groups can struggle to build a good credit score because they need to spend most of their earnings on rent and other regular payments. Indeed, the vast majority of existing Boost users are renters.
“Housing is at its least affordable point since our founding year in 1875, a sad indictment of decades of inertia over the UK’s housing crisis. But we will continue to find ways we can help and put homeownership within reach of more people.”