Council housing rent and finance

Rent arrears recovery for current tenants

Our aim is to prevent you from getting into rent arrears. We work with support agencies such as the Citizens Advice Bureau to give you advice and assistance from our local housing offices.

If you are in arrears, we will take a number of steps to recover the money you owe. 

These include:

• writing to you, telephoning you or visiting you at home to discuss the arrears and agree the best way to deal with the problem
• serving a 'Notice of Seeking Possession', the first stage in the legal process that could lead to you losing your home
• seeking approval from the Senior Officer Panel to apply for a County Court hearing
• applying for possession in the County Court
• offering you an appointment with the Head of Housing Management if you break the terms of any court order
• seeking approval from the Senior Officer Panel to apply for eviction
• as a last resort, evicting you.

We will always check for any special circumstances before we take legal action.

Rent arrears recovery for former tenants

If there are arrears on your account when the tenancy ends, we will:

• contact you to arrange for the debt to be paid
• take legal action if you do not pay the arrears
• where a tenant dies, we will discuss repayment arrangements with the next of kin.

We may refuse to re-house former tenants if they apply to us and have outstanding arrears.