Finance & Grants for home swaps

Some Councils and Housing Associations will offer you a financial incentive to home swap

If you are downsizing for example, some will give you an amount of money per bedroom you downsize by. Check with your landlord to find out what home swap incentives they have and which are available to you.

There are various grants and funds available from a range of organisations. You may qualify for some funding from a support agency or at least be able to get some advice from them. There are numerous national support agencies such as Salvation Army, Age UK, Citizens Advice Bureau etc. There are also smaller local agencies which you should research and contact. Your landlord should be able to tell you which agencies are local to you.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has a number of grants, which you may qualify for and find useful when you home swap. Some of these are listed below; more details can be obtained from www.dwp.gov.uk or your local DWP office.

Community Care Grant

A Community Care Grant does not have to be paid back. Grants are intended to meet a need for community care.

This means that they can be awarded to:

• help people establish in the community following a stay in institution or care home in which they received care
• help people remain in the community rather than enter an institution or care home in which they will receive care
• ease exceptional pressures on people and their families
• help people set up home in the community, as part of a planned resettlement programme, following an unsettled way of life
• help people to care for a prisoner or young offender on release on temporary licence, or
• help people with expenses to make certain journeys such as attending a relative's funeral or visiting someone who is ill.

You must be getting Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance (income-related), Pension Credit, or payment on account of one of them (or about to get any of them on leaving an institution or residential accommodation in which you have received care) in order to be eligible for a Community Care Grant.

More information on the community care grant http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/technical-guidance/sb16-a-guide-to-the-social/community-care-grants/

Budgeting Loan

A Budgeting Loan is an interest-free loan for people who have been on Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance (income-related), Pension Credit or payment on account of one of these benefits, for at least 26 weeks. It is intended to help spread the cost of certain one-off expenses over a longer period. The amount you get is decided by the decision maker at Jobcentre Plus.

To get a Budgeting Loan:

• you or your partner must not be disqualified from getting Jobseeker's Allowance under section 14 of the Jobseekers Act 1995 (trade disputes)
• you must be getting Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance (income-related), Pension Credit or payment on account of one of these benefits or entitlements
• you must also have been getting Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance (income-related), or Pension Credit for the last 26 weeks, or have been the partner of someone getting Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance (income-related), Pension Credit or payment on account of one of these benefits or entitlements, for you for 26 weeks, or a combination of them. If at any time during that period you or your partner stopped getting Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance (income-related), Pension Credit or payment on account of one of these benefits or entitlements, any gaps of up to 28 days will be ignored.

It is up to the decision maker to decide who should get a Budgeting Loan and how much they should get.

You can get a Budgeting Loan if you need help with:

• furniture or household items
• clothing and footwear
• rent in advance or removal expenses to secure fresh accommodation
• home improvements, maintenance or security
• travelling expenses
• looking for or starting work (including childcare costs)
• repaying hire purchase (HP) or other debts that have been taken out to pay for any of the above.

You won't need to list individual items or services that you need or explain why you need them. But you will need to say how much money you want to borrow.

If you need money for any other reason than the general categories above, you will not be entitled to a Budgeting Loan.

More information about the budgeting loan: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/technical-guidance/sb16-a-guide-to-the-social/budgeting-loans/

Crisis Loan

A Crisis Loan is an interest-free loan made from the Social Fund to help you meet an immediate short-term need in an emergency or as a consequence of a disaster. A decision maker will decide if you should get a Crisis Loan. You have to show that a Crisis Loan is the only way that serious damage or risk to health or safety of you or your family can be avoided. You do not have to be getting Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit or any other benefit or entitlement to apply.

You may qualify for a crisis loan:

• if you are not able to pay for basic living costs and this is a serious risk to the health and safety of you and/or your family.
• if you are not able to pay for cooking equipment, a fridge or other essentials and this is a serious risk to the health and safety of you or your family.

More information about the crisis loan: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/technical-guidance/sb16-a-guide-to-the-social/crisis-loans/