What if I don't pay my council rent?
If you have failed to pay us money, they are called 'arrears'. If you don't pay your rent your arrears will build up, so paying something regularly is better than paying nothing at all.
When your rent has not been paid we will send you a series of reminder letters asking you to pay or get in touch with us and your Rent Officer will also call at your home to try and assist you and to make an agreement with you to pay.
If we get no response to these letters you will receive a 'Notice of Seeking Possession' which lasts for a period of 1 month. If you still do not contact us or attempt to pay some or all of your arrears within this period we can apply to the court for a Possession Order.
If this happens you will go to court and as a result:
- you may be evicted from your home and we may not have an obligation to re-house you
- you will be liable to pay the court costs
- you will still have to pay us your rent arrears and you may find it difficult to obtain credit with catalogues or other lenders
- if you enter into a written agreement to pay arrears you MUST keep to it. If you are unable to make a payment, you must contact your Rent Officer immediately, preferably before the payment due date.
Your present agreement can only continue if you contact your Rent Officer before a payment is due.
If you break the agreement (by missing a payment without notifying your Rent Officer) the next stage of action against you will begin automatically and invalidates any previous agreements and the court will decide the next step.
Please contact your Rent Officer for more information or if you find yourself in financial difficulty, we can offer advice to help you manage your own finances. We can also arrange an agreement for you to pay off your arrears gradually by paying a little extra on top of your rent each week. If you have not applied for Housing Benefit you should do so immediately as you may be entitled to assistance. If you are joint tenants you need to remember that each person is responsible for making sure the rent is paid.
We will only apply for repossession (evict you) as a last resort.
We may be under no obligation to re-house you should you be evicted.