MPs must now debate calls for rent payments to be used for mortgage affordability

MPs are to debate a petition calling for rental payments to be deemed as enough proof that a borrower can afford a mortgage.

A petition on the Gov.uk website launched earlier this month has reached 143,613 signatures, beyond the required 100,000 to be debated by MPs.

There is no guarantee that this would mean any concrete changes, but the petition, attributed to Jamie Jack Pogson, said: “Since living on my own I have paid £70,000+ in rent on time yet still struggle to get a mortgage.

“Unless you’re getting handouts, wealthy or in receipt of inheritance it’s almost impossible. I want paying rent on time to be recognised as evidence that mortgage repayments can be met.”

Parliament must now debate the peititon but a date has yet to be given.

Commenting on the petition, Pete Ball, head of personal finance at lender Together, said: “The impressive surge in popularity of this petition is clear evidence of the growing frustration among thousands of renters that aspire to own their first home but are struggling to obtain a mortgage from the mainstream banks.

“Many traditional lenders apply a rigid criteria, and applicants need to tick all the right boxes, so proof of rental payments isn’t necessarily taken into account as part of the application process.

“It’s estimated that by 2025 there will be 7.2m households in the UK which are privately rented, a significant rise from the 5.4m recorded in 2015, and as this petition clearly demonstrates there is a need to compile more detailed data on the credit profile of these individuals, which will then help lenders to assess their applications when they look to obtain a mortgage.

“If there is a debate following the petition and it leads to new and improved measures in this space, that will be a positive step for both lenders and these aspiring home owners.”

View the petition.

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3 Comments

  1. AgentV

    Well done to Jamie for raising this petition. If the rules and restrictions continue to drive more and more people into rented accommodation and then keep them there indefinitely, who is going to pay all the rents when those people retire?

    Many of these people in the past would have been homeowners by the time they retired, requiring little or no state help. The state is building a colossal burden for itself in the future, by not addressing and helping aspiration for home ownership for many more people.

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  2. MrSerious

    Excuse me, Mr Jamie Jack Pogson, you are asking for yet more State meddling and interference in the (private finance) Market?  Now you want the mortgage companies to lend more to higher risk parties, having spent the last 9 years trying to do exactly the opposite?  How old were you in 2007/8?  Have you actually read and understood what was going on at that time?

    If you do nothing else today, please will you read the Council of Mortgage Lenders (cml.org.uk) articles and graphs on Repossessions and Arrears since 2008.  It is only just now ‘returning to normal’.

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  3. JonathanGraham10

    Good to read this!

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