Rent arrears

Updated: 10 May 2011

What if I get behind with my rent payments?

If you fall behind with your rent, you can make an agreement with us to pay off what you owe in extra amounts each week. But we will take legal action against you if you refuse to clear your debt - you may even lose your home.

Talk to us

Contact us or phone us on 020 8709 4300 if you behind with the rent. We can help you to arrange to pay off any debt.

If you are struggling to find the money to pay your rent, talk to us straight away - debt is likely to get worse by keeping the problem to yourself.

If you are a tenant, we will forward your email to one of our income recovery officers. If you are a leaseholder, your email will be forwarded to your leasehold housing officer.

What happens if I don't pay my rent?

If you do not contact us, we will contact you. We will try to agree with you how you can pay off your arrears. If you do not contact us and you stay in arrears, we will take legal action that could lead to your eviction.

Expert help

Ask your income recovery officer or scheme manager for help. They will:

• check if you are entitled to any benefits;
• make sure you are getting all the right benefits;
• give you claim forms and help you to fill them in;
• explain the benefits rules and
• give you advice on how to manage your cash.

Debt advice

We can also refer you for independent, free and confidential debt counselling.

Legal action

If you do not make an agreement to clear your debt (and keep to it), we will take legal action.

The first stage is to serve you with a Notice of seeking posession (NOSP). This gives you up to four weeks to pay off your arrears. After four weeks, we will ask for a court hearing. We may stop the court action if you make an agreement to pay.

Court hearing

If we have not managed to make an arragement with you by the end of four weeks, we will apply to court for a posession order. The court will fix a date for the court hearing. At this point you will still have the opportunity to get in touch and make an agreement.

If you have made no effort to pay or have broken a repayment agreement, we will ask the court to allow us to evict you as soon as possible.

If you have taken action towards paying your debt, we usually ask the court to order you to pay off the debt by a certain amount each week. You will also have to pay the court costs. We will only evict you if you break the court order.

Problems with paying your rent? - rent arrears (272 KB)

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