High Peak Community Housing

Under your Tenancy Agreement your rent must be paid regularly and on time. Your rent is due weekly in advance on a Monday, except for those weeks that have been designated as ‘no collection’ weeks. If you fail to pay your rent regularly you are at risk of losing your home.

About your rent

How much rent should you pay?

The letter we sent to you when we offered you your home tells you how much the rent is. Please note that you may be entitled to help towards paying your rent. (see help towards paying your rent below.)

How are rents worked out?

The government now sets rents for all social housing. Some tenants will have heating and other charges added if these are provided communally, or are service charges.

What does the rent pay for?

Your rent is used to manage and maintain your home and the surrounding area. It is kept completely separate from other services provided by the council, which are paid for through the council tax. For tenants who receive the Carelink Service there is also a warden charge.

Will you get notice of your rent increasing?

We will write to you and tell you about any increases in your rent and/or charges at least 4 weeks before they are introduced. Any change to your Housing Benefit because of the rent increase will be worked out automatically.

How can you pay your rent?

There are several ways to pay your rent. It is up to you to decide which method suits you best. You can choose from any of the following:

Direct Debit – you can pay your rent directly to us from your current bank or building society account. We recommend you pay by this method because it is safe and easy. Further details and application forms are available from The Income Collection Team or fill in the online application here.

At the post office and other local shops – you may be eligible to pay your rent by cash or cheque at your local post office using a special ‘Allpay card’. Contact The Income Collection Team for more information on local shops that accept payments.

Standing Order – You can also arrange to have your rent paid by Standing Order from your bank or Building Society account. Contact The Income Collection Team for further details or fill in the online application here.

Two Annual Prize Draws – if you pay your rent by Direct Debit you will be entered into an annual draw with a substantial prize paid in vouchers for a local shop/s of your choice.

If you have some rent to pay and you keep you account all year you will be entered into an annual draw with a substantial prize paid in shopping vouchers of your choice.

Online - we have joined forces with Girobank to provide a more convenient way for you to make payments online. Connect to Alliance & Leicester Billpay. Please have all your details ready.

Service Standards – Rent setting and rent collection

We will…

Review all rents and charges annually and consult the Tenants’ forum before we decide to make any changes
Give you 28 days written notice of any changes to rents or charges
Provide a variety of ways for you to make rent payments
Provide you with a statement of your rent account on a quarterly basis
Provide assistance and advice on benefits and payment methods on request
Rent Arrears

What happens if you don’t pay your rent?

It is very important that you do not fall into arrears with your rent payments. If for any reason you miss a payment, you must bring your rent account up-to-date as soon as possible.

If you have any difficulty paying your rent, please contact the Income Collection Team immediately so that we can help you. We will be able to give you advice about any benefits that you may be entitled to claim. We can also put you in touch with other agencies that may be able to help you if you have debt problems.

We can also help you to make an arrangement with us to pay off your rent arrears by an agreed amount each week. If you keep to this agreement, no further action will be taken against you. If you do not get in touch with us to arrange to clear your arrears or fail to keep to a payment arrangement without explanation, we will take legal action against you. The cost of taking you to court will then be added to the amount that you already owe us. If your arrears continue to increase, you may be evicted from your home.

We are here to help

You can have an appointment to discuss, in private, any problems that you are having in keeping up with your rent payments. We can visit your home at a time convenient to you to discuss ways that will help you to keep your rent account up-to-date. We can offer help in completing Housing Benefit forms and arrange expert advice around dealing with debt and claiming other benefits.

If payments are not kept up to date a summary of the action we will take to tackle rent arrears is shown below:

1. Reminder – we will send you a first reminder letter if your account goes into arrears

2. Second Reminder – if you do not contact us after the first reminder letter or you fail to reduce your arrears, we will send you a second reminder

3. Notice of Seeking Possession – if your arrears keep increasing we will serve you with a Notice of Seeking Possession. This explains that, unless your arrears are cleared or reduced within the next four weeks, we will take legal action against you.

4. Pre–court letter – if you have not cleared your arrears or kept to a payment arrangement at the end of the 4 weeks, we will send you a pre-court letter. This letter warns you that court action will be taken if the situation continues.

5. Court Action – your case will be entered into court if your arrears continue to rise. We will tell you the date of the court hearing and advise that you attend. We will ask the court for a Possession Order but request that they suspend it if you pay an agreed amount in addition to your rent each week. In exceptional circumstances we will apply for an immediate Possession Order.

6. Possession Order – if you keep to the payments set out in the court order, no further action will be taken, if you fail to keep to the terms of your court order, we will seek to evict you from your home.

7. Warrant – we will apply to the court for a Warrant of Eviction to regain possession of your home.

8. Eviction - you will be issued with an eviction date. If your account, including any legal costs is cleared in full before the eviction date, the eviction warrant will be withdrawn. If the required payment is not made, the eviction will be carried out and you will lose your home.

Please note – it is our policy to use eviction only as a last resort.

Our aim is to give you all the help and advice we can so that you do not lose your home. If you are evicted for rent arrears you may be seen to have made yourself intentionally homeless. This will limit any help that we can give you with housing in the future.

Service Standards – rent arrears

We will…

Contact you promptly if you do not pay your rent
Try to make realistic agreements with you for repayment of your arrears if you cannot clear outstanding amount in full
Tell you what we plan to do before we take any further action
Explain the likely outcome of any further action we may decide to take
Offer advice on benefits you may be able to claim

You must…

Make sure you pay your rent when it is due
Let us know if you’re going away for more than 4 weeks
Contact us straight away if you have a problem paying your rent
Tell us about any changes in your circumstances straight away

Help towards paying your rent

If you are on a low income you may be able to get help with your rent by making a claim for Housing Benefit. For further advice on Housing Benefit and whether you qualify, contact:

Revenues and Benefits Service

High Peak Borough Council

Town Hall Buxton

Derbyshire

SK17 6EL

Telephone: 0845 129 7777

Email: benefits@highpeak.gov.uk

If you would like to know how much housing benefit you can get, please click here.

How do you claim Housing Benefit?

You will need to complete a housing benefit form giving details of your income, savings and other people who live in your home. Forms are available from all Council offices. If you need help to complete the form, staff will be happy to provide assistance. Completed forms can be returned to any of our offices or by post to the revenues and benefits service (address above).

What documents do you need to provide?

When making a claim you will need to provide original proof (not photocopies) of your national insurance number, income and savings. The claim form makes it clear what proof you will need to provide and what kind of documents are acceptable.

It will speed up your claim form if you supply all the required information when you hand in your claim form. Failure to provide the required information will delay the processing of your claim and will lead to arrears building up on your rent account. If you do not provide the necessary information within 1 calendar month of the date of your Housing Benefit claim, your claim will be cancelled.

It is important that you put in your claim for Housing Benefit as soon as possible because Benefit is usually paid from the Monday after the day your claim was received. Claims are not usually backdated to an earlier date unless there is a very good reason why your form is late. If you are awarded Housing Benefit you must let the Council know if your circumstances change (e.g. your income or your household details change) because your claim may be affected.

Help to pay your warden charges

If you receive Housing Benefit or are on a low income, you can claim Supporting People payments to cover the cost of your warden charge.

Useful Contacts

Job Centre Plus:

0845 6032953
www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk

Citizens Advice Bureau

0845 120 2979
www.citizensadvice.org.uk

Child Benefit Helpline

0845 302 1444
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefit

Derbyshire County Council Welfare Rights Helpline

Monday – Friday 1pm – 4.30pm

01773 570772 or 01773 570872
http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/Social_health/welfare_rights