Falling behind with rent

When you become a Soha resident, you sign a tenancy agreement. This means you have a legal obligation to pay your rent and keep your account up-to-date.

We depend on your rent to pay for the services we provide to all our residents and to maintain and manage your home to a high standard.

We owe it to all our residents to take a firm but fair approach to dealing with tenants who owe us rent.

If you’re on a low income, whether you’re working or not, you may be able to get some help. Depending on your circumstances and where you live you’ll need to contact your local council to complete an application for Housing Benefit and Council Tax reduction, or visit your local Job Centre to apply for Universal Credit.

There’s more info about housing related benefits on the ‘my money’ pages of this site or use one of the free, confidential online calculators.

We’ll contact you and try to help you get back on track. For example, we could agree that you’ll pay your arrears back in small amounts – rather than paying it all straightaway.

But if you don’t tell us you’ve got a problem or fail to keep to an agreement to pay off your debts, we will take action and this may mean taking you to court.

If you’re behind with your rent and you don’t agree a plan to pay back what you owe, or you don’t keep to your repayment agreement, we’ll start legal action to recover the debt and take back your home. We’ll also ask the court to add legal costs to your bill.

You must attend court as this will be your last chance to explain what’s gone wrong before the court decides what to do.

If you need independent legal advice about a court appearance, contact:

• Your local Citizens Advice office (free, impartial advice) on 03444 111 444
• Civil Legal Advice as part of legal aid to get free confidential advice or contact the court direct to access support for your area
• A solicitor (impartial advice, but there’ll be a charge).

Even if you’ve got a court summons, it’s not too late to contact us and discuss how you can clear your debt.

Don’t ignore it – if you’re struggling to pay your rent please get in touch.

A NOSP (notice of seeking possession) is a warning that we may make a court application after the 28 days’ notice period has expired.

If you’ve received an NOSP you must contact us immediately.