Managing your rent arrears

We understand the effects of the current cost of living crisis; if you do fall into arrears with your rent there are ways we can support you.

We know it can be stressful to talk about, but please don’t wait until you owe a large amount of money before reaching out to and speaking to an Income Team member, call them on 0300 303 1717 we are here to advise and support you.

It is not a good idea to borrow from finance companies or illegal money lenders to pay off any money you owe us. They often have higher interest charges that the high street lenders like banks and building societies. This means you’ll owe the finance company a lot more than you borrowed from them. If you are a victim of an illegal lender, please phone the Illegal Money Lending Team for help on their confidential hotline 0300 555 2222.

We would expect you to pay your rent before you pay any other money you owe. But if you can’t do this for a genuine reason, please call us to discuss it. We want to try and help you.

We will take a look at any money you owe us in a fair, but firm way. If you are unable to pay what you owe, there are things we may need to do:

We may need to:

• Look at how much money you have coming into your home and how much you spend to work out the best payment for you.
• Look to see if you are receiving all the income you are entitled to
• Look to see if we should refer you to one of Tai Calon’s support workers
• Refer you to another organisation for debt advice
• Serve a Notice of Seeking Possession. This is a legal notice and the first step towards losing your home.
• As a last resort, we may issue possession proceedings which could lead to you losing your home.

For further advice, visit the MoneyHelper website.