ClearScore Launches Free Rent Reporting to Boost Credit Scores for Millions of UK Renters

ClearScore has launched a free rent reporting service for UK renters, allowing users to report monthly payments to Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. This move addresses a major gap in the credit system, helping those with "thin" files build credit history through their largest monthly expense and potentially improving access to mortgages and other financial products.

What was announced

The new service allows users to report rent payments to all three major UK credit bureaus—Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion—directly through the ClearScore app or website. By integrating these payments into credit reports, the platform aims to provide lenders with a more comprehensive view of an individual's financial reliability. Historically, while mortgage payments have been a staple of credit files, rental payments have often been excluded, leaving many renters at a disadvantage when seeking credit.

Research commissioned by ClearScore and conducted by 3Gem highlights the scale of this issue, revealing that the average UK renter has paid nearly £60,000 in rent over their lifetime, with 19% having paid more than £100,000. Despite these significant financial commitments, 61% of renters feel frustrated that they cannot qualify for a mortgage, even though 71% estimate their rent is equal to or higher than a potential mortgage payment. Furthermore, 66% of respondents believe that having their rental history visible to lenders would improve their chances of securing a mortgage.

The service is designed to be set up in minutes, providing a digital solution to a problem that has been the subject of parliamentary discussion since 2017, including the Creditworthiness Assessment Bill. By making the service free, ClearScore aims to remove the financial barriers that have previously prevented renters from getting credit for their largest regular outgoing.

"ClearScore is giving UK renters something that we feel is long overdue: free rent reporting, connected to all three credit bureaus, means that every rent payment finally counts."

Justin Basini, Co-founder and CEO at the ClearScore Group

The companies involved

ClearScore operates as a global financial services platform, positioning itself as the UK’s leading application for credit scores and reports. The company focuses on using data to help consumers understand their financial standing and access relevant products. This latest initiative involves a strategic partnership with Equifax, one of the "big three" global credit bureaus. Equifax UK&I, led by CEO David Bernard, has highlighted that up to 25% of UK adults currently possess a limited credit file or no traditional credit footprint at all.

By incorporating rental data, the bureaus aim to provide a more inclusive view of consumer behavior. The reporting also extends to Experian and TransUnion, the other dominant players in the UK credit information market. Experian and TransUnion maintain significant influence over the lending landscape, with their data forming the backbone of most credit decisions made by high-street banks and alternative lenders. Together, these four entities represent the core infrastructure of the UK's consumer credit reporting system, where the inclusion of alternative data like rent is increasingly seen as a method to expand the addressable market for lenders while managing risk more effectively.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely followed the evolution of credit reporting and financial inclusion. We previously covered how Equifax UK and ClearScore Integrate Rental Data to Boost Credit Access for Millions, a move that laid the groundwork for this broader rollout. The industry-wide shift toward including alternative data was also evident when we reported on the Experian Boost Update: UK Tenants Can Now Add Rent Payments to Credit Reports for Better APR, which noted that 70% of Users to See Immediate Credit Score Improvement. Additionally, our coverage of the TransUnion Q3 2026 Report: Lenders Expand Credit Access to Below-Prime Borrowers highlighted a growing appetite among lenders to use more sophisticated data sets to reach underserved segments of the population.

What this means

This move marks a significant shift in the UK credit landscape, effectively commoditising rent reporting which was previously a fragmented or paid-for service. By providing a free bridge to all three major bureaus, ClearScore is putting pressure on traditional lenders to modernise their risk assessment models. The industry must now grapple with how heavily to weight rental consistency against traditional debt obligations. While this helps "thin file" consumers, it also raises questions for the sector about data standardisation across bureaus. If rental data becomes a standard metric, lenders who fail to integrate it into their automated decisioning engines risk losing market share to more agile, data-driven competitors.