Cash deposits

One of the difficulties that homeless and other housing applicants have in accessing the private rented sector, especially those in receipt of housing benefit, is being able to provide damage deposits in advance of their occupation, which are routinely required by private landlords.

Epping Forest Housing Aid are a local charity who will in certain cases provide either a cash deposit or a damage deposit guarantee on behalf of a tenant.

Qualify for a cash deposit

Landlords will often require you to pay a deposit when taking up a tenancy within the private rented sector. By law this money has to be protected for the duration of your tenancy, either by the landlord taking out a specific insurance or holding the money in a tenancy deposit scheme.

At the end of your tenancy, the landlord will usually deduct any money from this deposit to cover the cost of repairing any damage to their accommodation during your occupation.

If you are asked to pay a cash deposit but are unable to afford to do so, the Epping Forest Housing Aid Scheme may be able to assist you.

Under the scheme a cash deposit is made on your behalf, which is then held in a custodian scheme with Mydeposits (www.mydeposits.co.uk).

To qualify for a cash deposit under the scheme, you must be homeless or threatened with homelessness, have a local connection to the Epping Forest district and be in priority need, however homelessness officers may consider those who are not in priority need in some circumstances.

We must be satisfied that you can afford the rent liability on the accommodation identified and have no reason to believe that you might cause damage to the landlord’s property.

Apply for a cash deposit

When we are satisfied that a referral to the scheme should be made, you will be advised to find a suitable property which should be located within the Epping Forest district or its borders. If you need help in finding accommodation then our homelessness officers will try to help you.

Once you have found accommodation, our homelessness officers will undertake a full financial assessment of your household’s circumstances to ensure that the accommodation identified is affordable. Where the accommodation identified is located within the Epping Forest district, we will also arrange for an environmental health officer to inspect the premises to ensure that it is suitable for you to live in.

Following this a referral will be made for a cash deposit through the Epping Forest Housing Aid Scheme.

Once approved, you will be asked to sign a form agreeing to repay any monies that might be deducted from the cash deposit at the end of your tenancy.

Want to know more?

If you want to find out more about cash deposits in the Epping Forest district contact our homelessness officers by:

• Telephone 01992 564165
• Email homelessness@eppingforestdc.gov.uk