Rent
Rent
Arneway is a mutually set up organisation and will help you to sort out any issues in your home or with your tenancy – particularly things to do with your rent, repairs, your tenancy or any problems you are having in your home.
Your tenancy agreement will tell you how much your rent is at the start of your tenancy. This figure will change as we review your rent yearly.
You must pay your rent each week or month in advance dependent on the terms of your tenancy agreement. If you have a weekly tenancy you can pay every fortnight or every month if you want, but you must make sure your rent account balance is always one week in credit.
It is your responsibility to make sure that your rent is paid regularly and on time.
Upon request we will send you a statement of what you have paid. If you are in good standing this can be requested electronically. If you are in arrears, statements will be raised & posted. to the property.
We will retain proof of posting and it will be used as part of the submission for any litigation, ie Court proceedings.
Arneway Housing Association will regularly over the course of a year, You should check these against your own record of payments and raise any questions with your housing officer.
It is a condition of your tenancy that your rent is paid regularly and in advance.
Your home is at risk if you do not pay your rent. However, we appreciate that you may have difficulties paying your rent from time to time and we will do everything we can to help you.
Rent arrears
Please contact your housing office who will be able to offer advice and help you. If you have rent arrears (missed payments) and cannot pay these straight away, you may be able to make an arrangement to pay them over a period of time.
FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES OR FINANCIAL HARDSHIP
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO COMMUNICATE WITH ARNEWAY IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING ANY FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES OR FINANCIAL HARDSHIP.
Service charges
We sometimes provide services to tenants that incur an extra charge, like:
Cleaning shared areas.
Entry phones.
Heating and/or hot water.
Lifts.
Sinking fund. This may be introduced to deal with improvements at some point.
Your tenancy agreement will list the services that are covered by your service charge.
If you receive Housing Benefit this may not cover some charges such as heating and hot water provided to your home, so you may have to pay some charges yourself.
Housing Benefit
If you are on a low income or if you receive other welfare benefits, you may be entitled to help with paying your rent. Contact the Housing Benefit Department of your local council for information on how to claim and how much you may be entitled to. Managing your Housing Benefit claim is your responsibility and it can be complicated. If you are not sure about any aspect of your claim, ask your housing officer who will be able to officer advice and support.
If you are waiting for your Housing Benefit claim to be assessed or are receiving Housing Benefit, it is still your legal responsibility to make sure your rent is paid in full. This means that if the rent is not paid (whether or not it is your fault) you still owe us the missing rent. Also, if Housing Benefit does not cover all of your rent, you are responsible for paying the difference.
Please check that payments are being made and take action if there is a problem, or contact your housing officer.
You must tell the Housing Benefit Department about any change in your circumstances, including:
Changes in your income.
Rent increases.
If you are going away for more than a few weeks.
If enters or leave full-time education.
If you fail to report changes, your local council may pay you too much benefit (which you will have to pay back) and treat it as deliberate fraud.
Your Local Authority Housing Benefit Department can send you a letter at any time requesting details and evidence from you. Make sure you reply in the timescale they set or you may not receive the money to which you are entitled. If it’s possible we advise you to get a receipt for any evidence or documents you submit.
Losing your home is not the only risk you face if you fall behind with your rent: Court orders can affect your credit rating and you may not be able to borrow money. You will have to pay the cost of any court hearing.
We will not usually transfer you, or allow you to mutually exchange until you have paid the arrears.
If you lose your home your local council may not rehouse you because you have made yourself ‘intentionally homeless’.
Banks, building societies or other lending agencies can ask us for references on your payments and a poor reference may mean you cannot get a mortgage or other loan.
Where we set aside money annually to improve your living environment, we will aim to spend the money on improvements that mean something to you.
We aim to visit the area where you live at least once a year.
You should read the terms of your tenancy carefully to ensure you understand your responsibilities as a tenant and our responsibilities as your landlord.
If you contravene the Housing Co-operatives rules of strict SINGLE OCCUPANCY OR SUBLETTING EVICTION CAN BE EXPECTED. Also we will ask the courts for a possession order is if you have seriously and persistently broken your tenancy conditions (for example, by not paying rent or by causing extreme nuisance to your neighbours or subletting and/or condoning multiple occupancy).
All properties are pet free and should remain so during the tenancy. Any damage to the property caused by any pet / animal will leave you liable for remedy. If you fail to remedy the situation a court order will be obtained to seek your eviction and/or financial redress.
We will always try to sort out problems without having to take legal action. However, we will take legal action if you do not cooperate or you break agreements. We will also take legal action to repossess your home if you are no longer living in it or illegally subletting to someone else. This means that we have to get an order for possession from the courts, any all all costs, plus interest will be reclaimed for you.