The Rent Deposit Scheme is an interest-free loan that helps you cover the cost of a tenancy deposit or rent in advance.

Qualifying for the scheme

To qualify for the scheme, you must:

• have family in, or be working in, Bournemouth, Christchurch or Poole
• have been assessed by a housing options officer and found statutorily homeless
• be unable to get funds from anywhere else
• be able to afford to repay the loan in regular instalments so that it is paid back within 3 years.

We’ll need to see:

• identification, like your passport, driving licence, birth certificate, marriage certificate, UK residence permit or European Economic Community identity card
• building society, bank or post office statements from the last 3 months for all accounts
• proof of your location connection to Bournemouth, Christchurch or Poole
• proof of your National Insurance number
• proof of other income not shown on your bank statement.

Do not give your new landlord any money before your housing options officer has told you that you’re on the scheme and has agreed that the property you have found is affordable and suitable. We will not issue a rent deposit or rent in advance loan to refund you if you’ve already paid.

If we’ve given you financial help before and you’ve not paid us back, we may not be able to help you again.

How the scheme works

We only fund a deposit or rent loan for a property if:

• the housing options officer says it is affordable
• the landlord is happy to take part in the scheme.

The landlord/letting agent will get the deposit directly. We send this to them either by a direct payment into their bank or as a bond guarantee certificate.

The deposit is normally equal to 1 month’s rent and is an interest free loan. The loan must be repaid in regular instalments over a maximum of 36 months. If your landlord has not made a claim on the deposit within 28 days of the tenancy ending, the deposit will be returned, and you might receive a full or partial refund depending on the outstanding balance you have with us.

We’re unable to help with admin, referencing or removal costs.

Rent in advance loans

We also arrange rent in advance loans, where we pay the landlord one month’s rent in advance of your tenancy beginning. This cannot be used to pay for any damages to the house. You will not get this back at the end of the tenancy and it's non-transferrable.