Tenant handbook - paying rent

Paying rent is a key part of your tenancy agreement and we take a firm but fair approach to those who do not pay.

We recognise that tenants may suffer from money problems and can fall into arrears for lots of reasons.

Your Income Officer is there to help, and you should contact us as soon as possible if you are having trouble paying your rent.

Falling behind with rent payments.

If you fall behind with the rent and you are in arrears, your Income Officer can identify benefits you may be entitled to, help you fill in claim forms and make an agreement with you to pay your arrears in instalments.

We will offer you support and help to deal with your arrears, but if our efforts to help you fail or if you break an agreement with us, we will consider taking legal action to evict you or denying you certain rights, for example transferring or mutually exchanging your home.

If we do evict you for having rent arrears, it is unlikely that we will offer you housing again in the future unless the outstanding arrears are cleared.

If you would like to speak to your Income Officer about rent arrears, please contact us as soon as possible.

The council works in partnership with Citizens Advice.

For independent impartial advice, please contact the Citizens Advice on 03444 111 444 or talk to one of their advisors online.

Rent arrears recovery

If you are in arrears, we will take a number of steps to recover the money you owe.

Actions we may take include:

• Writing to you, telephoning you or visiting you at home to discuss the arrears and agree the best way to deal with them.
• Serving a ‘Notice of Seeking Possession’, the first stage in the legal process that could lead to you losing your home.
• Applying for possession in the County Court.
• As a last resort evicting you.

Our aim is to prevent rent arrears from developing and we work with support agencies, in particular Citizens Advice, to deliver targeted advice and assistance.