Action on arrears
What you can expect from us if you have rent arrears
We rely on our rental income to pay for the management and maintenance service you receive, any caretaking and communal services you receive, and to fund our building programme and refurbishments.
If you fall behind with your rent payments, we can help you find solutions to keep your payments up-to-date, but only if you contact us and tell us what is happening.
When you first fall into arrears
Your Income Officer will usually notify you when you fall behind with your payments. You will be asked to clear the arrears. If you can't, you should contact your Income Officer immediately to discuss the situation. They may agree to an arrangement to clear the arrears in instalments.
If you normally claim Housing Benefit, but this stops being paid, you should contact the Housing Benefit department immediately. If you circumstances change, you will need to ensure that your rent is paid, but we may be able to provide some advice.
Home visit
If you fail to respond to contact or clear the arrears, we will usually write to you to arrange a meeting to discuss any problems you may have paying your rent. If you can't clear the arrears in full we can negotiate an agreement to pay your arrears in instalments.
Serving a notice
If you fail to keep the appointment or to clear the arrears, we will visit you to serve a Notice of Seeking Possession on you. This is the first stage of legal action against you. The notice states how much you owe.
We advise you to seek independent advice (for example from a Citizen's Advice Bureau, Law Centre or Solicitor) if this happens.
This doesn't mean we'll definitely take you to court. If you clear the arrears promptly – or we agree to you clearing the arrears in instalments, and you pay these – we will take no further action.
Court action
If you haven't cleared the arrears or made a satisfactory agreement to repay the arrears within 28 days (the exact date will be written on the notice), we can take you to court for possession of your home.
We'll contact you to let you know we've done this, and we'll try to reach an agreement with you to pay off the arrears before the court date. If you make an agreement and keep to it, we'll consider adjourning the court hearing, and taking no further action against you.
If you fail to contact us or keep to an agreement we will proceed with the legal action and exercise permission to evict you.