About your rent

Contents

When is my rent due?

How can I pay my rent?

Help and advice for paying rent

Housing Benefit and Universal Credit

Rent Arrears

When is my rent due?

Your rent is due on the Monday of each week, but can also be paid in fortnightly or in monthly instalments. It is important that you pay your rent in advance to avoid falling into rent arrears. If you are having difficulty paying your rent, we can help.

How can I pay my rent?

There are many different ways to pay your rent:

Online payment

You will need your Debit Card and rent account details to hand

Pay online now

Direct Debit 

You can ask to have Direct Debit payments set up so that your rent will be collected automatically from your bank account on the 1st or 15th of each month.

Call us on 01954 713 000 and ask to be sent a 'Direct Debit instruction' to get started.

Pay over the phone

You can pay your rent over the phone on our 24-hour payment line, using your Debit or Credit Card.

Have your Debit or Credit card and rent reference number ready, and call 01954 713 000.

Pay at the Post Office or PayPoint Outlet

You can pay at any Post Office or PayPoint outlet using a plastic payment card. 

Don't have a payment card? Call us on 01954 713 000 and we can have one sent out to you. Find your nearest branch using the Post Office branch locator.

Other ways to pay your rent

If you would prefer to pay by Standing Order, Telephone or Internet Banking, our bank details are as follows:

Sort Code: 20-17-68
Account Number: 30466441
Account Name: Rent BACS Account
Bank: Barclays

When paying in these ways, it is important that you provide your rent reference number every time. Your payment can take up to 4 days to reach your account.

If you have any problems, please contact us as soon as you can on 01954 713 000.

Help and advice for paying Rent

If you fall behind paying your rent it can put you in danger of breaking the terms of your tenancy agreement and risk having legal action taken against you. If you are finding paying rent difficult, we can work with you to try to prevent any legal action being taken.

The sooner we know, the more we can do to help, so contact us for help and advice. 

Below you can find details of advice we offer, and other organisations who can help you.

Housing Benefit and Universal Credit

If you are on a low income you may be able to get help with your rent by claiming Housing Benefit or Universal Credit, even if your are in full time employment. 

Should I be claiming Housing Benefit or Universal Credit?

Most people will need to claim through Universal Credit. You will need to claim Housing Benefit if you are any of the following: 

- in a couple and one of you has not reached Pension Credit age

- disabled and have a sever disability premium included in your benefit award

- living in temporary accommodation

- living in accommodation where your landlord provides support - this does not include sheltered schemes owned by the Council.

Do you need help to complete the form? We can arrange for someone to help you fill it out.

Housing Benefit will usually be paid from the Monday after your form is received and your claim is successful. 

If you submit your form late you can ask for backdated Housing Benefit to be considered, although this would only happen if you could provide 'good cause' for not submitting your claim sooner.

To find out more, or request an application form, please contact the Benefits team on 01954 713 000. 

Rent Arrears

If you fall behind with your rent, you will be sent a letter asking you to bring your payments up to date. If you are having difficulty paying rent, are in rent arrears, or in danger of falling in to it, contact us as soon as you can. We can give you advice and support to get your rent back under control. It is important that rent arrears are prevented or answered quickly to prevent us potentially having legal action taken against you. 

We may begin the first stage of legal action if you have fallen four weeks in arrears.

What if I receive a Court Summons?

If you receive a Court Summons, you will be given a date and time when you must appear before the Judge at the County Court. If your rent arrears are cleared before then, you do not need to attend.

The District Judge will decide if you can stay in the property, and how much you should pay. The Judge can choose to:

• Adjourn the hearing
  • This means that the Judge does not make any Order, and you are given a chance to clear your arrears first. 
  • If you do not pay, the Council can reapply to the Court to make an Order.
• Make a Possession Order
  • This means that you must move out of the property and give the keys back to the Council, within a set period. 
  • You will still need to pay back the money you owe. 
  • If you do not move out and return the keys to the property, you will be served with an Eviction Warrant.
• Make a suspended Possession Order
  • This means that you can stay living in the property as long as you pay your rent, plus an amount towards your arrears. 
  • If you do not make payments as agreed in this Order without a further hearing an eviction warrant will be issued.

You should contact the Rent Recovery Officer on 01954 713 327 to make any offer of payment.

What if I receive an Eviction Warrant?

You will be given a date and time for when the Court Bailiff will attend the property and the locks will be changed. If you pay the arrears in full before this date, the eviction will be cancelled. 

If you are unable to do this, you will need to go to the County Court and ask for a form to submit an application to suspend the eviction. 

You will be given a further hearing where you can ask the District Judge to suspend the eviction. 

You will need to advise the Court why you have not kept to the terms of the previous Court Order. The District Judge may stop the eviction if you agree to make payments to your arrears. They could also dismiss your application and order that the eviction should go ahead.