Coffee giant Starbucks are expanding their ‘Home Sweet Loan’ rental deposit scheme, which offers its UK employees the chance to borrow money to help with the costs of moving home.
The scheme is designed to take off some of the pressure of the high cost of living in the UK, which is felt especially by its employees aged under 25. The scheme is available for its UK partners who are sub-letting rooms and have been with the company for over 6 months, and in conjunction with The Prince’s Seeing is Believing programme, offers an interest-free loan to help cover the cost of rental deposits when moving home.
Home Sweet Loan was the first scheme of its kind by a private company in the UK, developed in partnership with Shelter and Generation Rent and launched in September 2015. The interest-free loan can be paid back over twelve months, and hopes to help tackle the housing crisis felt especially heavily in London.
At the Business in the Community Seeing is Believing visit on Tuesday, Martin Brok, president of Starbucks Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) said: “A lot of our partners live in cities close to our stores where the cost of living is soaring and we believe with Home Sweet Loan we can make a real difference to their lives by offering this benefit. This month we have had the highest number of applicants, so we hope by extending the scheme, more partners will take advantage of this initiative.”
Jasmine Whitbread, Chief Executive Officer, London First – “London has persistently failed to build the number of homes it needs which has put huge pressure on renters, and caused tenancy deposits to regularly top £3,000. It’s great that leading employers like Starbucks are doing what they can to help. But ultimately, the crisis is one of undersupply, and there’s no substitute for the government and City Hall building the homes we need.”
Starbucks will loan a maximum amount of one month’s wages to eligible employees, paid within four weeks of application, to be repaid over twelve months.