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FAQ: Rent
We often receive questions about rent payments - below are responses to some of the more frequent ones. If you have questions which are not answered below, please contact us.
What should I do if I am having difficulties paying my rent?
Speak to your Neighbourhood Housing Officer or Scheme Manager as soon as possible. You will be treated with respect and given advice in confidence.
They will be able to help you with any benefits that you may be able to claim, and will work with you to arrange a repayment plan at a rate you can afford. They can also give you advice about debt counselling such as the 24 hour National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 or Citizens Advice Bureau.
Remember the sooner you speak to us the sooner we can help you!
What will happen if I don’t pay my rent?
A condition of your tenancy is that you will pay your rent on time, if you do not pay on time we will:
- contact you and ask you to pay the money you owe;
- try to find out the reason why you have missed a payment and offer you advice about benefits and debt counselling, if appropriate;
- make an arrangement for you to repay by way of a payment plan, taking account of your circumstances and how much you can afford;
- if you do not pay, we will contact you again to discuss any difficulties you may have and try to arrange a new payment plan;
- if you do not keep to the repayment plan, we may have to take legal action in the form of a legal notice; we may take you to court if you do not pay the money you owe us, or keep to an acceptable repayment plan.
If you continue to owe us money or have not kept to the repayment plan we may take you to court and also apply to the court for payment of our legal costs as well as the money you owe. The court will make an order for you to repay the money you owe us, usually over a period of time. We will also ask the court for a County Court Judgement, also known as a CCJ which will make it hard for you to get credit in the future.
If your circumstances change after you have been to court and you can no longer afford the repayments that you have agreed, you can apply to the court for a variation order. This will allow you to make a new arrangement with the court to change the amount you pay.
We only use eviction as a last resort if you do not make the payments that have been agreed in court.
