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Rental deposit loan form

The College is offering an interest-free loan scheme to assist staff with paying a deposit when moving into a privately-rented property, thus alleviating some of the financial pressure of renting a property in and around the capital and achieving financial planning by spreading the cost.

If you wish to apply for a loan, please read the conditions below to assess your eligibility and to confirm that you have all of the correct documentation. Complete the rental deposit application form for submission to your line manager or departmental operating manager, as appropriate.  A loan must be approved by your department before it can be processed.

Conditions of loan

Eligibility
  • You must be employed on a contract extending for at least six months of the advance (this loan is not open to casual workers) and in receipt of regular monthly payments through payroll at a level sufficient to meet the monthly repayment obligation.
  • The loan will only be granted for the actual rental deposit, it must not cover any other payment in respect of property rental, e.g. holding deposit or first month’s rent etc.
  • If you are a new member of staff, you must have actually commenced work and have submitted a completed Employee Starter Checklist.  If you are a prospective member of staff, you must have been issued with a contract of employment.
Tenancy deposit protection
  • A loan will only be granted on the condition that the rental deposit is held by a landlord in a government backed Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme. (TDP)
  • It is your responsibility to pay the deposit to the landlord and to ensure you obtain evidence that the landlord is a member of a government backed Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme, this evidence must be submitted with this application.
    • o What is acceptable evidence? a copy of an email to the landlord from the Deposit Protection Service [DPS] showing the landlord’s DPS identification number, or evidence that the deposit has been placed which must include your landlord’s confirmation of how the deposit is protected and the name and contact details of the TDP scheme and its dispute resolution service (you will only have this if you are applying for the loan retrospectively and have already paid your deposit at least 30 days ago).
    • o What is unacceptable as evidence? a letter from the landlord them self (i.e. not originating from the DPS) giving their DPS ID, any other document that has either not been issued by the DPS or does not provide evidence that the deposit has been placed
  • Should the landlord make any deposit deductions when the tenancy ends, full repayment of the loan is still required.
  • Before paying your rental deposit, please ensure that you have taken appropriate precautions against rental fraud. The Action Fraud website has some advice on protecting yourself against rental fraud. Should you fall victim to rental fraud, full repayment of the loan is still required.
Form and value of loan
  • A loan may be between £240 and £10,000 but the total of any College loans advanced to you (e.g. season ticket, immigration visa loans and salary advances) including the rental deposit loan, must not exceed £10,000.  Also, if the cost of the rental deposit itself exceeds £10,000 you should fund the remainder from your own resources.
  • Loans are available only to staff in receipt of regular payments through payroll at a level sufficient to meet the monthly repayment obligation.
  • The loan will be advanced as a non-taxable addition to your normal salary, paid into your bank account along with your salary payment. 
  • The balance of the loan can be paid off at any time by arrangement with the Payroll Manager.

 

Repayment
  • Subject to the remaining provisions in this section, repayment will be made in instalments via monthly deductions from your salary over a period of 10 months, except where the contract has less than 11 months to run, in which case you may apply for a loan for one month less than the remainder of your contract (e.g. where a contract has 10 months to run, a loan will be repaid over 9 months).
  • If for any reason you leave the College's employment before the total of the loan has been repaid, any outstanding amount will be deducted from your final pay. Where this is not possible, an invoice for the outstanding balance will be raised which will be payable immediately.
  • You will be responsible for complying with the terms of your tenancy agreement and, in the event your tenancy agreement comes to an end before the end of the loan, the College will continue to make deductions from your salary until the loan has been repaid.
Other conditions
  • Your department, division, school or institute will be required to agree to underwrite the loan.
Application procedure
  • Please email your completed form, together with evidence that the landlord is a member of the Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme to your line manager or Departmental Operations Manager who will forward it to the Head of Department/Division/School/Institute.
  • You should time your application so that it reaches the payroll office before the payroll closing deadline for the month in which you require the loan to be advanced (not applicable to prospective staff where loan is paid directly into bank account).
  • Once approved, the Head of Department/Division/School/Institute should email the form to the Pay Office, who will make payment with your salary.