The information and advice service for home owners and the private rented sector. A guide to financial help

Transcription

1 The information and advice service for home owners and the private rented sector A guide to financial help 9

2 The HomeImprove Service The HomeImprove Service has been set up to help homeowners and people who rent private property to repair, maintain, improve and adapt their homes. We provide a wide range of information and advice to help you carry out work to your home. In some circumstances we can also provide practical and financial help. This leaflet is for people living in privately owned housing. Helping yourself If you own your own home, you are responsible for looking after it and keeping it in a good condition. This includes paying for any maintenance, repairs or improvements. You can pay for home maintenance, repairs and improvements by: paying money into a maintenance fund; using your own savings or investments; getting a loan from a credit union, bank or building society; getting help from your family; using the value of your home to raise money this is called equity release; or getting help from a charity. In some circumstances, we can offer you financial help. Adaptations If we assess that you need a permanent adaptation for your home, we will give you a grant for 80% of the approved cost of the work. Or, we will give you a grant for the whole cost of the work if you, your partner or a dependant receives one of the following benefits. Income Support Income-based Jobseeker s Allowance Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit) Income-related Employment and Support Allowance 9 A guide to financial help

3 If you don t qualify for the full grant, we can give you more information and advice (but not more money) to help you carry out the work. We may refer you to our Care and Repair service for more support. We do not provide funding for maintenance costs or extended warranties. We don t automatically provide grants for extensions to add extra living accommodation such as bedrooms. If there is no other way to adapt your home, we will give you information to help you find the money you need to carry out the work. In some circumstances, we may provide financial help (either a loan or a grant or both) so the work can be carried out. We will only do this if you are having serious financial problems. We can help you apply for this special funding if you need us to. You can get more information about adapting your home in our leaflet Helping you to stay at home or in your community. Houses that don t meet the tolerable standard Following an assessment carried out by an environmental health officer, we will give you a discretionary grant towards the approved cost of work needed to correct certain major problems which prevent your home from meeting the tolerable standard (a legal standard housing must meet). We will give you: 25% for work costing less than 5,000; or 35% for work costing 5,000 or more. (The maximum cost of the work we can give you a grant for is 20,000.) You will be eligible for this grant in the following circumstances. If the structure of your home is unstable and there is risk of it collapsing. There is not, and never has been, a toilet inside your home for just your household.

4 There is an inadequate supply of wholesome (clean and healthy) water. If a cesspool needs to be upgraded to a septic tank or to a Scottish Water tank, sewer or septic tank. your home has rising damp. Whether we give you a grant depends on our budget, and we may put you on a waiting list for funding. It is up to you to pay the remaining cost of the work. If you ask us to, we will give you information and advice to help you do this. Owners taking part in common works with social landlords If your share of the costs for common works is 5,000 or more, we may give you a discretionary grant of 35% to help you pay your share. We may give you a grant of 25% if your share of the cost is less than 5,000. We may also give grants at these levels for common works related to the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) that are not being carried out within our Investment Programme. We also give these grants to qualifying private landlords if the property is registered on the Private Landlord Register. If you are taking part in common works with us, you can benefit from our attractive repayment terms to help you pay your share of the costs. You can get up to four years to pay, depending on our financial assessment of your household income and outgoings. If you are taking part in the Investment Programme, we will give you more information about this at specially arranged public meetings and by writing to you. The hardship fund If you are struggling to pay for work to your home, we may be able to offer you extra financial help from the hardship fund. We will carry out a full assessment of your financial circumstances. We will offer you a loan if you meet our conditions for support from the hardship fund. We may offer you a grant if you are having serious financial difficulty. To qualify for help from the hardship fund, the work to your home must fall within one of the following priority categories.

5 Common works to help us and other social landlords, like housing associations achieve the Scottish Housing Quality Standard. Work needed to tackle a major problem that prevents your home from meeting the tolerable standard. (The work must meet the conditions for discretionary grant.) Home extensions to provide extra living accommodation where this is confirmed as being the best way to meet the assessed needs of a disabled person. Other financial help Citizens Advice There are four Citizens Advice offices in South Lanarkshire. They provide an advice service which is free, independent, confidential and fair. You can find out more about the information and advice they provide by visiting their website at Their contact details are listed at the end of this leaflet. Energy Saving Scotland Home Loans Scheme These are interest-free government loans of between 500 and 10,000 to help you to: install cavity-wall or solid-wall insulation or loft insulation; replace old boilers that aren t working properly; or install small-scale renewable-energy systems, such as wind turbines, solar water heating, ground or air-source heat pumps, hydro-electric schemes and wood-fuel heating systems. You can get a loan if you are a homeowner in Scotland, but rules and conditions apply. The scheme is managed by the Energy Saving Trust who are an independent, non-profit organisation. They provide free information and advice about making your home more energy efficient. You can also find out what grants and offers for insulation are available in your area. You can phone them free on or visit for more information.

6 Financial Education and Advice Team Our Consumer and Trading Standards service provides this service. The Financial Education and Advice Team can help you use your money more effectively. They provide advice, information and help on: making the most of your money; ways to save money; credit unions; responsible borrowing, making financial decisions and your credit rating; and your options, rights and responsibilities when it comes to credit. You can phone them on , fax them on or text them on Financial Services Authority You can find information about equity release (raising money using the value of your home) in a leaflet produced by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The leaflet: gives you information about the different equityrelease schemes and how to use them; points out some of the risks involved in these schemes; and answers some questions you may have. You can download the leaflet from the FSA website at Money Matters Advice Service You can get help with money problems such as fuel debts, credit or hire purchase payments, or rent or council tax debts. Although Money Matters cannot give you financial advice on products such as mortgages, their advisors can tell you if you need to get independent advice. You can arrange an appointment at any Q and A office or community flat. 9 A guide to financial help

7 Getting in touch You can get more information about the help available to you if you live in privately owned housing from our Scheme of Assistance. You can get details from your local Q and A office or you can download it from our website at You can contact us by phone, by fax or in writing. Our contact details are as follows. The HomeImprove Service Housing and Technical Resources South Lanarkshire Council 11th Floor Almada Street Hamilton, ML3 0AA Phone: Fax: informationandadvice@southlanarkshire.gov.uk You can also ask in person at any Q and A office or community flat. If you are 60 or over, have a disability, or have a longterm health problem or illness, the Care and Repair in South Lanarkshire service may be able to give you more information, advice or practical help. You can phone them on or them at enquiries@careandrepair-sl.co.uk. Citizens Advice Rutherglen and Cambuslang Kyle Court, 17 Main Street, Cambuslang G72 7EX Phone: Fax: Hamilton Almada Tower, 67 Almada Street, Hamilton ML3 0HQ Phone: Fax: East Kilbride 9 Olympia Way, Town Centre, East Kilbride G74 1JT Phone: Fax: Clydesdale Wide Close, Lanark ML11 7LK Phone: Fax:

8 For more information or if you want this information in a different format or language, please phone or informationandadvice@southlanarkshire.gov.uk If you need this information in large print, on tape or in Braille, please contact Please phone if you would like this information in Chinese, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi or Polish Proszę dzwonić na numer , jeśli chcieliby Państwo posiadać tę informację po polsku. Produced for Housing and Technical Resources by Corporate Communications and Public Affairs. 651/Aug10 A guide to financial help leaflet Issue 1