In general, all landlords require a payment of rent in advance, before you move into their accommodation. There are two ways of borrowing money from the Social Fund, depending on how long you have been in receipt of benefits:

Budget Loan

You can apply for a budgeting loan for rent in advance (not a deposit) if:

• You are in receipt of Income Support or Income based JSA and

• You have been receiving that benefit for the past 26 weeks (6 months)

You do not have to have already found accommodation to apply for this loan. You need to complete Form SF500 (available from the Benefits Agency), tick the box in Part 3 that says rent in advance, and put in the amount that you think you will need.

If you already have social fund loans owing, you may not be entitled to any more, or the amount may be limited.

Budgeting Loans can take up to 28 days to process but you can ask the Benefits Agency to ‘fast-track’ your application if you are homeless, or likely to become so. The loan is gradually repaid from your benefit.

You can download a claim form by clicking here.

If you have not been receiving Income Support or JSA for 26 weeks or more, or if you receive Incapacity Benefit without an Income Support element, you can apply for a Crisis Loan, see below.

Crisis Loans

You can apply for a Crisis Loan for rent in advance if:

• You are eligible for benefits (or in certain circumstances working); and

• You are homeless or about to be; and

• You have found private rented accommodation.

This loan is for rent in advance only, and will not be issued for a deposit.

The maximum issued is 4 weeks rent in advance, although the rent must be reasonable. If you already have large outstanding loans, this may stop you getting a loan for rent in advance but you should not be refused without completing a claim form/ interview. The loan is gradually repaid from your benefits.