Falling behind with your rent
You can check your rent balance in your online housing account
We will contact you as soon as your account goes into arrears to try and fix the problem.
Login and check your rent in your online housing account
Get help with your online housing account
If you find yourself in rent arrears then you need to pay the outstanding balance immediately.
If you can't bring your account up to date you can make an offer to pay using the rent arrangement form.
Housing benefit
If you are on a low income it may be the case that we can help reduce your rent if you make a claim for housing benefit.
You do not have to be out of work to receive housing benefit.
If you are already receiving housing benefit and struggling to pay the rent it might be worth contacting housing benefit. It is important to always respond to any letters from the Housing benefits team.
Please be aware that housing benefit does not cover water charges, heating charges and certain service charges.
Other help
Housing benefit is not the only support if you are having difficulty paying the rent.
There are various other benefits that you may be eligible and there is also advice and guidance on the government's benefit site.
Your arrears may be due to you living in a property which is too large for your needs.
The Income Recovery team can help you with this; if your home is smaller it's likely that your bills will be as well.
You can contact them by completing the contact housing online form
The following pages also have useful financial advice:
Eviction
If you do not pay off the arrears or stop making payments you will be risking your home and we might start legal action against your tenancy.
If you are an Introductory tenant and do not pay off your rent arrears in full or make a repayment arrangement then we will start to take steps to evict you.
However, eviction is always a last resort. We will try to contact you to talk about your situation and will do everything they can to avoid taking this action.
If you ignore attempts to contact you and do not clear your account it is likely the eviction will go ahead.
If you are evicted because of rent arrears, this or any other Council will not have a duty to re-house you.