The Rent Deposit Guarantee Scheme and Self Help Scheme have been developed by Waltham Forest Housing Services to help households find private rented accommodation if they have become, or are about to become, homeless through no fault of their own. The schemes help clients of Housing Services who cannot access private rented accommodation. Council tenants wishing to move may also be eligible.
The main factor preventing access to private sector accommodation is finding a deposit and rent in advance. The Rent Deposit Schemes can help to solve this problem.
Rent Deposit Guarantee Scheme
In this scheme, the Council will find a suitable private rented property for you and will guarantee a deposit to the landlords. If you are on Housing Benefit, you will be referred to a dedicated Housing Benefit team within Housing Services.
Rent Deposit Self-Help Scheme
If you are eligible for this scheme, and can find a suitable property for yourself in the private sector, the Council will pay a deposit and rent in advance to the agent on your behalf. The rent in advance will then be claimed back by the Council from the first Housing Benefit payment.
For full information about these schemes and to find out if you may be eligible for them, please download the Waltham Forest Rent Deposit Schemes leaflet (190KB PDF file).
If you would like further information about this scheme please contact Assessments and Options on 020 8496 3000 or speak to your caseworker. Alternatively you can send an e-mail to RentDeposit@walthamforest.gov.uk
What support is available?
If you are housed through one of these schemes, you may have the option of being referred to a generic support service, who can help with advice on issues such as obtaining a school place, registering with a GP or applying for a furniture grant.
If you have already been given accommodation through the Rent Deposit Scheme, you can also download the tenant information pack: Rent Deposit Schemes: Help and advice for tenants
Information for landlords
If you are a landlord and are interested in putting your property forward for the Rent Deposit Scheme, please visit the following page: Rent Deposit Scheme: information for landlords
You can also see a full list of standards for Rent Deposit Scheme properties.
Leaflets online
There is a full range of Housing Services leaflets and forms available here.
These leaflets are all available free of charge, by downloading from this website, by post or in person from our office.
How to contact us
Cedar Wood House
2d Fulbourne Road
Walthamstow E17 4GG (map)
Tel: 020 8496 3000
Fax: 020 8496 5431
Opening hours
9am-4.30pm Monday to Thursday
10am-4.30pm Friday
Our office is located on Fulbourne Road.
If you need help with spoken or written English, let us know and we can provide interpreters and/or translated information - for example if English is not your first language, or if you have sight and/or hearing disabilities.
Cedar Wood House is fully accessible for people with mobility disabilities, including wheelchair users, with ramped/level access, wide doors, and fully accessible toilets. There is also an Induction Loop for hearing aid users.
Bulgarian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Urdu
Open to personal callers: Monday -Thursday, 9am-4.30pm; Fridays 10am-4.30pm
Telephone enquiries: 020 8496 5575, Monday -Thursday 9am-5.15pm; Friday 9am-5pm
