| Thursday, 13 July 2006 | |
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Stoate calls for extra help for lower income families looking to rent privately Dartford MP, Dr Howard Stoate, is to call on the Government to put in place extra measures to help lower income families to rent privately.The MP has pledged to take the matter up with Government after hearing from a string of young families in Dartford still living with their relatives, who can’t afford the deposit and rent in advance necessary to rent a home of their own. “Many local councils offer deposit loan or deposit bond schemes to people on low incomes to help them rent privately, but in a lot of cases the eligibility threshold is set very low and as a result many young families on moderate incomes aren’t able to get the help that they need;” explained the MP. “I’ve heard from a number of young people who have full-time job, but simply don’t have the savings necessary to pay a deposit and rent up front. Some people are fortunate in that they have relatives or friends who can help them out, but not everyone is in that boat.” “In most cases the only option that these young people have is either to stay where they are - often in cramped, overcrowded houses - or to make a homelessness application to the Council. There has to be a way of helping young people in this situation, which is why I am going to raise the matter in Parliament.” “What I would like to see is a single Government controlled deposit guarantee scheme in place, with a higher eligibility threshold than is generally in place at the moment, to ensure that these kind of people don’t miss out on a home of their own. A national scheme would also be less confusing for landlords and prospective tenants than the myriad of local schemes with different rules and eligibility criteria that we have now, and would be an easier system to publicise effectively.” “One of the problems that we have now across the whole region is that quite a number of people who are eligible for help aren’t aware of the fact whilst some landlords aren’t sure what the scheme entails: a single national scheme with clear rules and criteria would help to change this.” Notes Most councils that offer a deposit scheme provide landlords with a deposit bond or guarantee. Dartford Borough Council for example operates a deposit guarantee scheme whereby the council provides the landlord with a guarantee for the deposit (a promise to pay) to cover the deposit required, up to a maximum of four weeks rent. Only people in receipt of a gross income of £276 a week or less are usually eligible for the scheme. Some councils however offer loans for a deposit. Usually, they lend the prospective tenant the money in advance to be paid back over a period of time from their wages or benefits. In its publication ‘Sustainable Communities: Homes for All’ published in January 2005. The ODPM (now the DCLG) promised to ‘improve access to the private rented sector for households who might otherwise face homelessness, through schemes that provide rent deposits and guarantees, or which offer approved lettings with accredited landlords’. |
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© 2008 Dr Howard Stoate - Member of Parliament for Dartford
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