PRH to offer staff rental deposit loans

Penguin Random House UK has launched a new, "inclusive" scheme, called Home Sweet Loan, to support its employees with the cost of a deposit of a rental property.  

The scheme, intended as another way for PRH to attract and retain talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, will allow employees to borrow up to £2,500 interest-free (or £1,500 during their probationary period) to help staff pay their rental deposit when moving into a privately rented home.

Similar to the way its season ticket loan scheme operates, the loan can be repaid in either six or 12 monthly instalments and will be deducted directly from an employee’s monthly salary. The scheme is eligible to all PRH employees across all its sites, including new joiners.

According to a Knight Frank survey earlier this year, around five million households across the UK are in privately rented accommodation, with that number set to rise to 5.8 million over the next five years. The average deposit across the country is £970, but £1,830 in London, based on figures from the Deposit Protection Scheme.

The scheme is designed to complement other PRH initiatives reducing barriers to entry into the publishing industry and attract more talent from diverse backgrounds and low income households. This has included removing the requirement for a university degree, paying all work experience placements the National Living Wage, and proactively reaching out to candidates who might not have previously considered publishing as a career through its #JobHack workshops. 

Val Garside, HR director, said: “We are really pleased to be rolling out this new benefit and providing an additional helping hand to our employees. Supporting our commitment to be a more inclusive employer, we also hope it will help make us more accessible for talented people across the UK who are considering relocating but worried about how they will afford high rental deposit costs.”