Employees at Experian, PwC and Direct Line are to get discounted access to Canopy’s deposit replacement scheme.

The regulated alternative deposit provider – which also lets tenants build up their credit score by having rent recorded on their Experian credit file – has partnered with the employers to provide tenants with cheaper access to its DepositFree rental service.

Employees will also have access to Canopy’s DepositFree renting service at a discounted rate, depending on the individual’s profile.

Instead of paying an upfront deposit, tenants have the option of making a one-off payment for an insurance policy from Hiscox that covers the landlord for up to £30,000 in the same way a deposit would.

Each renter is given a Rent Passport that looks at personal information such as where they were born, their job, credit report, any sanctions as well as a negative media check, to determine how much they should pay for the insurance.

The cost of an insurance policy is not recoverable, as a cash deposit would be, but it can be reduced to as low as 5% based on good renter behaviour.

Jon Pitt, chief commercial officer at Canopy, said: “We’re thrilled to partner with these corporations, and believe that the uptake in deposit free renting by industry leading companies represents an overwhelming tide of change in the rental sector, as deposit-free insurance becomes the norm for professional employees working within our largest corporations.

“We believe this represents an important signal for estate agents and build-to-rent landlords, who will now need to accommodate the scores of conscientious urban renters looking to lock into deposit-free rental accommodation. Naturally, property market leaders will want to take advantage of this trend, as deposit free renting has well and truly hit the mainstream.”

Meanwhile, another rent recording service, CreditLadder, has partnered with personal finance app Bud to make it easier to integrate rental payments on to a tenant’s credit file.

Bud lets users store and access multiple bank accounts and other financial services in one place and a tenant will now be able to link their bank with CreditLadder through the app, which will then report their rental payments to Experian.

Alan Walsh, head of network and partnerships at Bud, said: “About 80% of our team rent their homes – it’s their biggest monthly outgoing and they have long histories of making those payments on-time, month after month.

“It was just wrong that this data couldn’t be used to help them achieve what they wanted in life so it’s great to be working with the team at CreditLadder to address the situation.”

Sheraz Dar, chief executive of CreditLadder, said: “There is huge momentum within both the banking and tech sectors at the moment to help a greater number of people access more affordable credit, and our partnership with Bud is a ground-breaking initiative that builds on this.”