Your rent and service charges explained
When is my rent due?
Your rent will be due in advance. If you choose to pay weekly, you must pay one week in advance. If you choose to pay monthly, you must pay one month in advance.
When you move in, you will receive a rent payment card which you can use when paying your rent.
To find out about the many ways in which you can make a payment, go to the Rents and Payments page.
To check your rent account, please log into your My Account. If you don't have your login details, please contact Customer Resolution Team on 0300 323 0325.
What happens if I am having problems paying rent?
If you do not pay your rent, you will be at risk of losing your home. If you start to have problems paying your rent, you must tell us. Our Financial Support team will carry our a free assessment of your situation to help you sort out your money problems.
We can help by:
- checking if you should receive benefits,
- checking that you are getting all the benefits that you should be receiving,
- helping you manage your money better,
- putting you in touch with independent experts who can provide free advice on debt and money management,
- coming up with an agreement to help you clear your unpaid rent.
The longer you leave getting in touch with us, the less we can do to help you. Paying your rent should be the top priority for you. If you don't pay your rent and don't let us know, we will take legal action against you to remove you from your home.
How is my rent money spent?
Your rent money helps pay for important things like:
- repairing and maintaining your home,
- managing your housing service,
- repaying money that we borrowed to build or modernise your home.
How do you decide how much rent I should pay?
How much rent you pay will depend on a number of things, such as:
- government guidelines on setting rent
- how many bedrooms your home has
- how old your home is
- where your home is
- the condition of your home
- the type of tenancy you have
- how your home was funded when it was built.
This means that you may pay a different amount of rent to your neighbours, even though you live in similar places.
Will my rent ever change?
Yes. The amount of rent that we ask you to pay will be reviewed each year. How often your rent changes and how much it changes will depend on:
- the type of tenancy agreement that you have,
- government guidelines on setting rent,
The impact of rising costs and our promise to you
Over the past year in particular we have seen an increase in costs, for example the rising costs of fire and building safety as Government requirements change, as well as price increases such as building materials and parts.
Where we have felt the impact of Covid we have delivered services differently to you –for example throughout the pandemic our caretakers and cleaners have continued to be out on estates and focussed on deep cleaning and dealing with an increase in fly tipping and our neighbourhood managers have been tackling a higher number of cases of anti-social behaviour. We have introduced same day repairs appointments and we’ve made getting support easier with an online appointment system so you can speak to key members of the team in person.
We will continue to work to improve the quality and responsiveness of our services and to keep our promise to you as a customer: We’re on your side; We’ll keep you informed; We’ll follow it through.
What is a service charge?
Service charges are a payment for services which are provided to you or have the ability to benefit from.
They cover the cost of any communal services such as grounds maintenance, cleaning, replacing light bulbs and fittings and electricity usage in some buildings. The charges also cover the cost of maintenance and repair to equipment within shared areas such as lifts, communal TV aerials, CCTV, electronic gates, door entry systems and fire equipment. (This is not a complete list of everything that could be included in your service charge.)
Some residents also pay a personal service charge and this is shown separately on your statement. This charge will not be covered by Housing Benefit or Universal Credit so you will need to pay for this.
Will my service charge ever change?
Yes. We work out the cost for the coming year by looking at previous costs together with any changes in the price of the contract, VAT and the level of service required.
Unless your lease agreement says differently, you will pay an equal share for the costs of your block and your estate. For example, if there are 100 properties in your block and the cost of cleaning is £10,000 then you will pay one-hundredth of the costs which works out at £100 for the year.
What happens if I don't receive the services or items that I am being charged for?
All of the charges are shared out between all of the properties in your block and on your estate that receive the service. For example; Ground floor flats share the cost of lift servicing. Middle and upper floors contribute to the door entry system. Houses on an estate will all have to contribute to grounds maintenance contracts to keep the area clean and tidy.
Here is more information about Service Charges.