The consumer credit reference agency said that government proposals to allow the credit reference industry access to the electoral register were in the public interest.
Coates said: "It removes the uncertainty of the last few months and, we believe, it means we can now confidently use the 2001 register in our credit files, which is particularly good news for all the people who moved house in that time and have been struggling to obtain credit.
"Callcredit had obtained 85 per cent of the 2001 register before the government’s embargo. We are now approaching the remaining 15 per cent of councils to see if we can obtain their registers and the data will be added to our credit files as soon as we get it.
"The electoral register is the cornerstone of all credit granting. It forms the hub of the information databases maintained by credit reference agencies, which allow businesses to make informed and responsible lending decisions about individuals.
"Without a reliable and easy way of checking an individual’s identity, some people – especially young people without any credit track record – would have found it much harder, if not impossible, to obtain credit, while others, who were already over-stretched, might have found it easier. Added to that, it would have cost the industry millions to find an alternative solution, the cost of which, I am sure, would ultimately have been passed on to the consumer in the shape of higher loan rates."
Credit reference agency, Equifax, also welcomed the move. Michael Shannon, executive vice-president and managing director of Equifax Europe, said: "We have worked hard with government and the financial services industry to persue a solution and we believe the announcement from the DTLR provides a satisfactory conclusion for consumers and lenders alike."
