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Council leasing by council › Durham

Let your house to Durham council

What Durham offers private landlords who want the council as their tenant or their letting agent, in the council's own words, with the page to apply on.

Yes. Durham runs "Accommodation for Ex-Offenders (AFEO) scheme".

'We offer incentives to private landlords for letting their properties through our Accommodation for Ex-Offenders (AFEO) scheme.' Tenants are ex-offenders supported by Housing Support officers; the council states 'we do not manage the tenancy for you' and landlords do their own reference checks. The Housing and Homelessness pages list no general rent deposit or leasing scheme. Contact privaterentedhousing@durham.gov.uk.

SchemeAccommodation for Ex-Offenders (AFEO) schemeTypelandlord incentives: cash, deposit guarantee or rent in advance to house a council nomineeTermsix months of tenancy supportIncentivesA £1,500 financial incentive (example based on £425 monthly rent): first month's rent, a security deposit of one month's rent registered with an approved scheme, £100 towards an end of tenancy clean if required, £200 cover for minor repairs if required and £350 held on tenant rent reserve. If the additional incentive money is not used or required it does not need to be repaid.What they wantProperties for the council's Ready to Let list, inspected by Private Sector Initiatives Officers.Council pagewww.durham.gov.uk/article/30657/Accommodation-for-Ex-Offenders-AFEO-scChecked2026-09-28
New: How council schemes compare, what you give up, and a ready-to-send email to your council

How these schemes work

Councils have a duty to house people they accept as homeless and a shortage of their own stock, so many lease or manage private landlords' houses instead. The common shapes are a lease of three to five years where the council becomes your tenant and pays rent whether the house is occupied or not, a management arrangement where the council lets and looks after it for you, or a one-off incentive (a cash payment, a deposit guarantee, rent in advance) for taking a council-nominated tenant on a normal tenancy. Terms, rent levels and what they want vary by council and change with demand, so treat every page here as a pointer to the council's own page, not a quote.

Before you sign

Check the same things you would for any let: whether the address is inside an HMO Article 4 area if the council plans to house more than one household, which licensing applies, and what the LHA rate is, since many schemes pay at or just under it. The free HMO Article 4 checker tests any postcode; Kerbio shows all three on the Rightmove listing before you buy.

See this on every Rightmove listing.Kerbio puts the Article 4 answer, licensing, the council's HMO register and sold prices on the Rightmove, Zoopla or OnTheMarket page itself. Free for 7 days, then £39 a month.
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Source: Durham council, read 2026-09-28. Schemes open and close with demand; confirm with the council before relying on any figure.