Rent in advance

Landlords usually ask tenants to pay rent at the start of the month. This means that you may have to pay a month's rent in advance as well as a deposit before you move in to your accommodation. You may be able to get help to cover this rent in advance.

What is rent in advance?

Rent is money paid by tenants to landlords in return for living in their accommodation. It is normally paid weekly or monthly, although it can be paid for other periods such as four weekly or quarterly. When tenancies start, landlords often ask for the first month or week's rent to be paid before it is due. This is rent in advance.

Will housing benefit cover rent in advance?

Housing benefit is paid in arrears and doesn't help you pay for rent in advance. You may get money from the Housing Executive if your housing benefit isn't paid within 14 days of your application. This is known as an interim payment.

Extended housing benefit payments

You may be able to extend your housing benefit by four weeks if:

you are starting work;
you are no longer claiming jobseeker's allowance or income support.

You will get the same housing benefit for a further four weeks.

Help from the social fund

Anyone can apply for a loan from the social fund to help pay for rent in advance. It isn't easy to get a loan as there is a limited amount of money available for loans. An adviser can:

help you convince the Social Security Agency that you should be a priority,
explain the forms and help you work out how much you need to ask for,
help you appeal if the Social Security Agency turns down your application.

There are two different types of interest-free loan that can help you pay rent in advance:

a budgeting loan
a crisis loan

What if the Social Fund turns me down?

It is difficult to get decisions about the social fund changed. If you are not happy with any decision made on your application and want to ask for a review, get advice immediately.

You can ask the Social Security Agency to review its decision. You must:

apply in writing,
apply within 28 days of the date the decision was given,
explain the reasons why you think the decision was unfair.

If you are still unhappy with the decision, you can ask the Social Fund Inspector to look at your application for rent in advance. The Social Fund Inspector is independent and can change the Social Security Agency's decision if it was wrong. Find out more about contacting the Social Fund Inspector.

Rent guarantee schemes

Each Rent Deposit & Rent Guarantee Scheme has its own rules. However, most of these work by giving your landlord a guarantee that the scheme will pay any money you owe when you leave. If the landlord says that you owe money the scheme will investigate, and pay the landlord.

If the scheme decides that your landlord is entitled to compensation, you will probably be asked to pay back any money it has paid out.