If your rent is not paid, the money owed is called 'rent arrears'. Rent arrears are 'priority debts', which means the consequences of not dealing with them are serious - there is a risk of eviction.
Paying your rent
Rent is to be paid into your rent account every Monday.
When the Monday is a Bank Holiday, your rent will need to be paid on the previous working day.
You will be sent a Tenancy Information Card showing the weekly rent due, and a Rent Book for making your payments.
There are various methods of paying your rent including:
- Direct Debit
- Post Office
- Bank Standing Order
- Online
- Credit card recurring payment
- Cheque
Payment can also be made at Council Offices, but cash is not accepted. Cheques should be made payable to St Albans District Council
Many tenants find it difficult to get to the Post Office on a regular basis. Paying by Direct Debit is a simple and straightforward way of ensuring your rent is paid regularly. Further information can be obtained from your Housing Management Officer.
Avoiding rent arrears
What are the causes of arrears?
We recognise that most people do not intend to be in arrears with their rent, but due to problems such as unemployment, sickness, unexpected bills etc, they may fall into arrears.
What should I do if I fall into arrears?
As soon as you think you will have difficulty in paying your rent, contact your Housing Management Officer at the Council Offices. Any delay in doing this could reduce the help we may be able to give and cause your arrears to increase. The problem will not go away if you ignore it.
How can your Housing Management Officer help?
We are here to help and offer advice should you experience difficulty in paying your rent. Your Housing Management Officer will check that you are receiving the welfare benefits that you are entitled to, and will help with the completion of any forms. We can indicate your entitlement to Housing Benefit if you provide us with correct information on your income.
Your Housing Management Officer will be sympathetic and understanding of genuine difficulties. We will help in reaching a realistic agreement to reduce the arrears each week; it is important that arrears are paid.
What if my arrears continue?
If your arrears continue to rise, or you do not reduce the balance we will have to take legal action; this happens when the amount represents four weeks or over. The first stage in this action is the service of a Notice of Seeking Possession, this notice gives a period of four weeks in which we would expect you to make satisfactory payments. If payments are not made in a satisfactory manner, we will refer the case to court.
If we do have to take you to court this will be for possession of your home, we will also charge you over £225 in legal costs. Ultimately, we will take eviction action if payments are not made in accordance with the Court Order. This is why it is critical that you maintain contact with your Housing Management Officer.
Make sure you claim your benefits
Some people are missing out on Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and other help because they do not know they qualify, or have difficulty understanding the forms. Application forms for Housing Benefit are available from the Housing Department or the Housing Benefit Section. Your Housing Management Officer is there to help you complete a benefit application form. Do not worry about asking, we want to help. Delay will cost you money.