Housing benefit - help with deposit

zudecke

Hi all,

A friend of mine has finally found a LL accepting HB, however she has to come up with £1500 deposit, which she does not have.

Does anyone know if she can get help from anywhere with this?

Regards,

Z

nannytone_2

some councils offer a deposit scheme, but this money has to be paid back.
quite possibly these schemes may also have been cut back but the only wau to find out is to contact your local authority

Mr_Pitiful

Have a look for a scheme here :

http://www.crisis.org.uk/find-pr-scheme.php

princessdon

She could use a guarantor - I am one for an austistic young man, they waived the deposit as I guaranteed all rent arrears and damage.

ladyrider260

You need to contact your local housing options office, usually based in the council offices. Now, every area is different but generally speaking, they usually only offer to put up a deposit as part of their "homelesness prevention" programme. In other words, your friend has to prove that she is or is being threatened with homelessness. This is usually thorough being served a section 21 notice to quit or domestic issues. You have to prove that you are unintentionally at risk of becoming homeless and that its not through being a bad tenant or being late/behind with rent.
They've really tightened up with how they give out the rent deposit scheme money as funding has been cut. They don't usually award it if someone decides they want a place of their own or if their Mum writes a letter saying they're booting their son/daughter out.

As I said, every area is different but be prepared for lots of questions, to produce lots of evidence (including financial such as bank statements) and a process which can take weeks. Your friend may well have to go through a registration process first and LL will only wait so long.

HTH