Cookie Consent by Privacy Policies Generator website

Help paying your rent

We're here to help

It's really important that you pay your rent: your home could be at risk if you don't keep up with rent payments.

Please contact our Income Management team if you're worried about getting into debt, the sooner you contact us the quicker we can help.

What happens if I get behind in my rent?

If you get behind with your rent (we call this ’getting into arrears’), we will deal with the matter quickly, efficiently and in a confidential and sympathetic way. We will contact you at every stage of the process to advise and help you with your rent arrears.

We will always try to come to an affordable arrangement with you to start making repayments against your arrears. As long as you keep to this arrangement and your arrears decrease, we will not take any further action against your tenancy. Our Income Management team are specialists in helping you to reduce your arrears and make regular payments.

It is important that you contact us and speak to us straight away. Our Tenancy Sustainment team [internal link] can give you advice about applying for benefits that you might be eligible for or you can find more information at www.gov.uk/browse/benefits/low-income [external link].  The Tenancy Sustainment team can also give you basic advice on organising your debts and refer you for specialist help where appropriate.

You can find out more about the Tenancy Sustainment team in our Tenancy Sustainment leaflet [pdf document].

To find out more about how we can help you and the standards you can expect from our Income team see our Housing Services Rent Account Service Standards [pdf document].

Universal Credit is a benefit payment which is replacing things like Housing Benefit and tax credits.

You'll find lots of information about it on the Move to Universal Credit website [external link], and on our dedicated webpages.

 

If you are on a low income, you may be eligible for help towards your Council Tax, this is called Council Tax Support.

You can find out more about Council Tax Support, including how to claim on our Council Tax web pages [internal link].

You should let us know whenever your circumstances change as this may affect the level of support you receive.

If you are worrying about your utility bills such as gas, electric and water you should contact your utility supplier first as they may have schemes, grants and discounts that can help you.

For gas and electricity bills you may also be eligible for help through Citizens Advice [external link] or Ofgem [external link].

If you have reached state pension age and are on certain benefits you may be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment, you can make a claim through the government website [external link].

For water charges and bills you can find out more about how to get help with your water charges from Northumbrian Water [external link] and our dedicated webpages [internal link].

How to contact us

There are several ways you can contact us:

Any emergency repairs can be reported to 01325 405333 24/7 365 days a year.

What if I am not satisfied with the response?

We hope that we can work together with our residents and listen to their voices and resolve any problems, but if you are unhappy with the response from the Housing team we have a complaints procedure you can follow and you can contact our Complaints Team by:

Install our web app.