FOI request (FOIR-461183148)

Rent Deposit Schemes

Requested Wed 26 October 2022
Responded Fri 11 November 2022

I am making the following request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

If any of the information requested is unavailable or cannot be provided in accordance with the Act, please provide partial responses or estimates (indicating as such).

The purpose of this request is to collate benchmarking information and to inform an assessment of the cost effectiveness of operating rent deposit schemes on either a loan or grant basis. If your local authority would be interested in the outcome of this work, please advise in your return and I would be happy to share findings once available (January 2023).

Many thanks for your assistance and time.

1. Does your Local Authority operate a Rent Deposit Scheme (financial support to residents to help them access accommodation in the private rented sector)?

2. If so, is your scheme operated as:

a. a loan (expectation of repayment)

b. a grant (no expectation of repayment)

c. a combination of the two

3. What was the total value of loans and/or grants paid under the scheme in 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22?

4. How many loans and/or grants were awarded in 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22?

5. If your scheme requires repayment from residents, what was the outstanding debt owed to the Council in relation to the scheme in 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22?

6. Excluding payments detailed in question 3, what is the annual cost of operating the scheme (staffing, administration costs) including debt recovery undertaken by council staff if applicable?

(Note: If you do not have the means to calculate an exact cost or if doing to will exceed the time limit for FOI responses, please provide an estimate)

7. Has the Council commenced legal proceedings against residents to recover debt owed in relation to this scheme in the past four years?

8. If so, please advise how many residents have been subject to proceedings during this time?

Response

Q1. Yes

Q2. Loan

Q3. Value of loans:

2018/19 - £125,658.14

2019/20 - £140,276.87

2020/21 - £93,081.06

2021/22 - £65,177.00

Q4. Number of loans issued:

2018/19 - 148

2019/20 = 140

2020/21 = 98

2021/22 = 69

Q5. The Credit Union administer these finances on behalf of the council and are responsible for collecting this money.

Q6. The annual costs vary as it depends on the number of active loans and new loans issued.

Q7. No, our process is that for any outstanding debts, the Credit Union and Council will contact the customer to make payments to meet their obligation. On a case by case, we may refer customer to a debt recovery service.

Q8. No legal action has been taken to date.