How to deal with rent arrears

What are rent arrears?

If you don't pay all or part of your rent, you will owe money to your landlord. This debt is known as rent arrears.

What should I do if I am in rent arrears?

If you are getting behind with your rent or think you may not be able to pay your rent in the future, it is important to act quickly to avoid the risk of losing your home by being evicted. You should explain your situation to your Landlord as soon as possible. Do not stop paying the rent completely and try to pay something extra each week or month to clear the arrears if you can. This will prevent your arrears from rising too sharply and will show your landlord that you are making an effort to deal with the problem.

It is often possible to sort rent arrears out, but if you don¿t act the situation will probably get worse. Your landlord could take you to Court and evict you from your home and you may then have to pay Court costs as well as the rent you owe. Even if you do go to Court there is often a solution.

As soon as you can, get advice from

They can explain your options and help you decide what to do. Don't wait until the last minute, act as quickly as possible to maximise your options available.

Welfare benefits

If you cannot afford the rent, make sure you are getting all the benefits you may be entitled to, for example if you are working you may be entitled to a tax credit. You should speak to the following organisations for more advice about benefits to which you may be entitled:

Housing benefit and discretionary housing payment

If you are having difficulty affording your rent you may be able to claim housing benefit - for more details see our pages on Housing benefit.

Money Advice/Debt Counselling

A debt advisor can go through your finances with you to see if you can reorganise your money to enable you to repay the rent arrears. They will also consider other bills and debts that you may have. Rent should always be your number one priority because if you don¿t pay it you could be evicted or taken to Court.

To speak to a specialist money advisor contact the:

The Housing Advice Team can also offer you basic advice about finances and help you complete a personal budget statement. We can then refer you directly for specialist help from the Abingdon Citizen's Advice Bureau by making an appointment for you with a money advisor.

Last reviewed: 08 - 02 - 2012

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