Financial Conduct Authority publishes guidance on helping tenants find alternatives to high-cost credit
Guidance provides greater clarity about helping tenants find alternatives to high-cost credit and what this means for social housing landlords.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published guidance for social landlords to provide greater clarity about helping tenants find alternatives to high-cost credit and what this means for social housing landlords.
Local authorities and social landlords can play an important role in helping tenants access essential household goods and cheaper forms of credit. The FCA is keen to support these activities and encourage referrals of tenants to lower cost credit providers such as credit unions.
The FCA’s guidance highlights some of the issues that social landlords should bear in mind when helping tenants find alternatives to high-cost credit. It does not change the law, but it does provide practical examples of which types of activities are likely or not likely to be credit broking, for which authorisation is required by the FCA.
The FCA has a dedicated team to support and assist social landlords with these issues and with becoming authorised. The guidance provides reassurance that authorisation for credit broking need not be a difficult process.
The guidance forms part of the FCA’s ongoing programme of work to promote the availability and consumers’ awareness of alternatives to high-cost credit such as payday loans, doorstep lenders and rent-to-own.