Landlords can undercut expensive letting agents and check out rogue tenants with a new smartphone app.
RentalStep gives tenants the chance to boost their credit rating by tracking their rent payments each month.
Instead of relying on letting agents for expensive references, landlords can access the app directly to confirm tenant identities, their rent history and tap into personal reviews if they were rated by former landlords.
The app also lets tenants rate their landlords.
Letting agents are likely to face a ban on charging renters for setting up a tenancy after general Election 2017 and many plan to switch the fee burden to landlords to maintain their income.
RentalStep is free for renters and backed by credit bureau Experian, one of the three firms leading the UK credit intelligence market.
Tenants benefit from a credit boost every time they pay rent on time, resolving a credit history problem that can stop them accessing cheaper borrowing.
“Our revolutionary new platform that connects great tenants and great landlords has launched across the UK and is set to revolutionise the way we rent. Our partnership with Experian means we can offer free credit scoring and ID verification for both tenants and landlords” said Mike Georgeson, founder of RentalStep.
“Our unique, secure Tenant Passport allows tenants to show a landlord just how good a tenant they are, whilst giving landlords access to a pool of verified tenants.
“The only losers are likely to be letting agents, who will have to start thinking twice about extracting hefty fees for matching the best tenants with the best landlords,” said Georgeson.
The app is also a tenancy hub – with a free, online tenancy agreement, employer references and other information a landlord needs to know.
