Our Homes

Your rent

Rent from letting our properties is our main source of income and pays for the services we provide to you. It is therefore very important both for you and for us that we collect all the rent we are owed.

As our tenant, you have a duty to pay your rent regularly and in full. Firm action will be taken against anyone who deliberately fails to meet their rent payments, including repossession of the property. If you lose your home because of rent arrears, you may find it very difficult to obtain another tenancy through your local Council, since they will consider that you have made yourself homeless through your own actions. Losing your home may also affect your credit rating.

CTH understands, however, that tenants sometimes run into financial problems through no fault of their own. Our staff are here to help you in these cases. The most important thing is to contact us as soon as possible if you are having difficulty in paying your rent. It is much easier for us to help you to resolve the problem if we know about it at an early stage. The next two pages explain how this process works and what you can do to help yourself.

How do i know what rent to pay?

Your weekly rent is set out in your tenancy agreement and is normally increased every year, in line with Government guidelines and our own rent policy. You will receive a notice informing you of any increase and the date it becomes payable.

Please note that the rent we charge you does not include Council Tax, electricity and gas charges.

Rent is due on or before every Monday for the week beginning that day. You can either pay on a weekly basis or for longer periods (eg monthly) as long as it is always in advance.

How should i pay my rent?

You can pay your rent in a number of different ways:

• By direct debit. If you come to the office, we will explain how this can be arranged. (Under this arrangement, the correct rent will automatically be taken out of your account even if the amount changes).
• Debit or credit card:
  • At the CTH office
  • By telephone – debit or credit card

(please think carefully before paying rent by credit card – we do not want to encourage you to build up debt)

• In cash, using your swipe card at any post office or shop with a Paypoint. Please see the enclosed leaflet “How to pay your rent” for more details.
• Internet via www.familymosaic.co.uk.
• Cheque: Please make cheques payable to “Charlton Triangle Homes” and post or take them to our office. You must put your name and address on the back of the cheque so we know which rent account it is for)
• SMS text messaging

More information about these payment methods is available at: www.familymosaic.co.uk

We will ask you to tell us at the start of your tenancy which payment method you will be using. You can change to a different method at any time as long as you let us know first.

water rates

If you live in an older style property you will almost certainly have water rates paid with your rent. This will be explained at sign up. We collect the water rates on behalf of Thames Water. Please note water rates are not covered by housing benefit and you are responsible for paying these charges every week.

If you move into a brand new property you will have your own individual water meter and water rates will not be included with your rent. You will therefore need to set up an account direct with Thames Water.

what if i can’t afford to pay my rent?

If you are unemployed or on a low income, you may be eligible for Housing Benefit to cover all or some of your rent. You may also be able to claim other benefits such as Council Tax Benefit. This will have been discussed with you when you signed up for the tenancy. If you were not getting benefits then, but your circumstances have changed since (for example, you have stopped working or the number of people in your household has changed), please contact us at once so that we can help you to apply for whatever you may be entitled to. Your benefits will normally be backdated to the date of application, so the sooner you send in the form, the better!

If your situation is particularly complicated, our staff may put you in touch with a specialist adviser from another organisation, to make sure you access all the benefits you are entitled to. However, once you are receiving these benefits, it is your responsibility to make sure that you renew your application when this is necessary and inform the Housing Benefits office (or other benefit agencies) of any changes in your situation. If you are in any doubt about what you should do, please ask us for advice.

We also have a CAB Money Advice Service operating from our local office one day every week. Please contact our staff to find out when the service is operating and you can contact CAB to make an appointment. You can get free independent advice if you are struggling with rent or any other kind of debt.

Remember: even if all or some of your rent is covered by housing benefit, it is still your legal duty to make sure the rent is paid in full at all times.

Some advice about applying for Housing Benefit:

• When you have filled in your application form (or your renewal form), always take it to the Housing Benefit office in person and make sure that you get a receipt and keep this safe. This also applies to any other information you may want to give them, such as when your rent has been increased. If you don’t get a receipt, you may not be able to prove that you sent in the application or letter if it is mislaid, and it may be difficult to get any change in your benefit backdated. You will then have to pay any increase in rent for that period yourself.
• Make sure you renew your application in plenty of time. A common reason for rent arrears is housing benefits being stopped because the tenant hasn’t renewed their application.
• If you think that the level of benefit you have been awarded is too low or it runs from the wrong date, you can appeal. Contact us immediately and we will help you with the whole process.

how will i know whether my rent account is up-to-date?

We will normally send you a rent statement at least once every three months and you can ask us for one at any other time. This will help you to keep an eye on your rent account and pick up any problems (such as benefit payments not being paid in) as early as possible. We will also monitor your account.

what happens if i get behind with my rent?

CTH expects all its tenants to pay their rent. We cannot do our job properly as your landlord unless we receive the income to pay for our staff and other local services.

REMEMBER – IT IS ALWAYS BEST TO ACT EARLY AND TELL US AS SOON AS YOU ARE EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS

If you fail to make payments and don’t talk to us about the situation, we shall take immediate legal action against you. You will know about this when you receive a Notice of Seeking Possession and then a summons from the County Court giving you the date of a hearing.

At the hearing we will ask the judge to end your tenancy on the ground of rent arrears and make an order for you to pay us what you owe us. The order may allow you to pay off the arrears over a period of time. You will have the chance to speak to the judge and explain your situation, and you are strongly advised to attend the court hearing and make sure that you get proper legal advice beforehand.

what happens then?

If you make us payments in line with the court order, you will not lose your tenancy. If you fail to make the payments required, you will no longer have any rights as a tenant and we may decide to go back to court to apply for an eviction order. In the meantime, you will become what is known as a “tolerated trespasser”, which means that you will not have the Right to Buy or the Right to Acquire, you will not be eligible for a transfer ..

If you clear your debt while you are a tolerated trespasser, then you can apply to the court to have your tenancy reinstated.

In the event that we decide to apply for you to be evicted, we will tell you in advance. The court will then ask the bailiff to carry out the eviction on a particular date and will also inform you. You can only be evicted by a bailiff acting on the court’s instructions. You will have the right to go back to court to ask the judge not to go ahead with the eviction.

You should be aware that if you are evicted, you will not be able to go back into the property to collect any of your possessions. It is important, therefore, that you prepare to move everything out on or before the eviction date. We shall be forced to dispose of anything you leave behind. We shall also instruct a debt collector to get in touch with you to collect any money that you still owe us.

However, we very much hope that it will not be necessary to proceed to this stage. Charlton Triangle works hard to ensure that tenants are given all the support and help they need to keep their rent payments up to date, and we will only apply for a tenant to be evicted when there is really no alternative.