What to do if you can't pay your rent or charges
You must speak with us if you're not able to pay your rent and/or charges in full. Call us on 01634 565333 Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.
We'll help with advice about paying your rent or charges and claiming benefits or Universal Credit to get you the best support.
Why it’s important to talk to us
Ultimately, you could lose your home if you don't pay your rent and/or charges. Paying your rent and charges on time is what you agreed to do when you moved in.
Telling us about the problem is the easiest way to sort it out. We’ll give you the support you need to take control of your money, and our team is full of people who can help you.
How we'll help
We can come to an arrangement on your debt and help you with your income and expenditure. Our team are trained to make this as easy as possible.
Improving your income and expenditure
This is a very simple chat about what money you have coming in and going out.
We’ll use this information to help you pay your rent or come to an arrangement, but we don’t advise you on how to spend your money.
Agreeing what payments you can afford and when (an arrangement)
Once we've looked at your income and expenditure we can agree how much you'll pay and the dates you'll pay it by. We'll call this an arrangement.
If you keep to these payments we won't contact you about your overdue rent and/or charges.
An arrangement helps you pay off your whole debt and can be flexible.
Tailored and specialist help
We can tailor our service to meet your needs. For example with:
- detailed support with your income and expenditure
- a face-to-face chat
- help setting up a Direct Debit payment
- guidance on benefits you may be entitled to and how to apply
Legal aid available for people facing the loss of their home
Information taken from gov.uk website.
Government-funded legal advice and representation (legal aid) is available to anyone facing possession proceedings.
Help is available from the moment you receive written notice that someone is seeking the possession of your home. This might be an email from your landlord or a letter from a creditor. Your financial situation will not affect your right to access this support and you will not need to pay.
A housing expert (funded by the government) will work with you to identify what may be causing someone to seek possession of your home and recommend potential solutions. For example, they may be able to provide legal advice on matters such as:
- illegal eviction
- disrepair and other problems with housing conditions
- rent arrears
- mortgage arrears
- welfare benefits payments
- debt
In the event you are unable to resolve matters and you are asked to attend a court hearing, a housing adviser can also provide free legal advice and representation at the court. Please arrive at least 30 minutes prior to your hearing and speak to the court usher and they will direct you to the adviser.
You can find your nearest Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service provider by typing in your postcode and ticking the box ‘Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service’ at: find-legal-advice.justice.gov.uk