Rent Arrears

Paying your rent in full and on time is a core part of your tenancy agreement. Your rent pays for your home and the services we provide, and it helps us to continue supporting all our residents fairly.

If rent is not paid, arrears can build quickly and become harder to resolve. This can cause unnecessary stress and may put your tenancy at risk. We want to help you avoid this wherever possible. If you are struggling to pay, contact us as early as you can. The sooner we hear from you, the more we can do to help.

Problems Paying Rent? Contact Us

We understand that people’s circumstances can change. You may be affected by changes to income or benefits, rising living costs, illness, disability, caring responsibilities or unexpected life events.

If you think you may miss a payment, or if your account is already in arrears, please do not ignore it. Getting in touch early can prevent the situation from worsening. We will listen to your circumstances and work with you to agree a realistic plan to bring your account back on track.

Find more support options at the bottom of this webpage.

Make a Payment Arrangement

If you are in rent arrears (this means if you owe us rent) and want to make a plan to pay it back bit by bit, we want to help you. This means making a new payment plan while still paying your regular rent.

To start, fill out this short form. Tell us how much you can pay back and how often (like every week, every two weeks, or every month) and press 'submit form' to send it in to us.

One of our team members will look at your plan and get back to you. They will let you know if we agree or if we need to make a new arrangement together.

Rent Arrears Payment Arrangement form

How we contact you about your rent

To help us stay in touch and offer support quickly, we use an automated contact system called Voicescape. If your rent account falls into arrears, Voicescape may send you text messages or automated phone calls. These are a prompt to encourage contact and help you access support as early as possible.

If you receive an automated call, you will hear a recorded message about your rent account and can choose to speak directly with a member of our team. Messages and calls will clearly identify South Essex Homes. If you are unsure whether a call or message is genuine, contact us directly.

What happens if your account goes into arrears

If rent is not paid on time, your account will fall into arrears and we will take steps to recover the debt. Our aim is always to resolve arrears as early as possible and help you keep your home. We may contact you by text, telephone, letter, email or home visit. These contacts are intended to encourage engagement and offer support. If you do not contact us, or do not keep to an agreed arrangement, the situation may escalate.

Secure Tenants - If your rent account remains in arrears, we may serve a Notice of Seeking Possession. This is a formal notice that we may start court proceedings to recover the debt and, where appropriate, seek possession of your home.

Introductory Tenants - If your rent account remains in arrears, we may serve a Notice of Possession Proceedings. This is a formal notice that we may start court proceedings to recover possession of your home. Before this happens, we will invite you to a review meeting to discuss your circumstances and explore ways to clear the debt.

If court action is taken, you should attend the hearing and seek independent legal advice from a solicitor, law centre or Citizens Advice. The court will consider the circumstances of your case before making a decision.

Support we can offer

When you engage with us, we can talk through your financial situation, help check you are receiving the correct benefits, agree a realistic repayment arrangement, signpost you to budgeting or debt advice services, and carry out a homelessness prevention interview if required.

If arrears continue

If arrears increase and there is no engagement or progress, we may have to take formal recovery action through the County Court. Legal action adds court and legal costs to your rent account, can be stressful and time-consuming, may affect your ability to get housing in the future, and can lead to eviction if arrears are not resolved.

Eviction is always a last resort, but it is a real risk if arrears are ignored or agreements are repeatedly broken.

If a Possession Order is granted

A possession order can end your tenancy and gives us the legal power to apply to the Court to evict you.  If we do this, the Court will decide a when the possession order comes into force (normally 28 days from the court hearing date).  If you are an Introductory Tenant a possession order will require you to leave your home within 28 days although the Court may extend this for up to 42 days.

We will tell the Council’s Homelessness Service, who may be able to offer advice, support and temporary accommodation. However, you may be considered intentionally homeless and may not qualify for temporary or permanent rehousing by the Council.

Former tenant rent arrears

Even if you are evicted, you will still be responsible for any rent arrears, court costs and other charges owed on your account. Our Income Management Team includes a specialist officer who manages former tenant arrears.

We will continue to pursue outstanding debts after a tenancy has ended, which may include referral to a debt collection agency or other recovery action. This could affect your credit record.

Our approach: Firm but fair

We take rent arrears seriously but believe most cases can be resolved through early communication and cooperation. We will treat you with respect, listen to your situation, explain clearly what you need to do and support you to sustain your tenancy wherever possible. In return, you should pay your rent on time, contact us if you are struggling, keep to repayment arrangements and respond to our communications.

Support

If you are worried about how you can afford your rent, please speak to our Specialist Income Management Team or Tenancy Services Team on 0800 833 160. We also have a cost of living advice page on our website here: Cost of Living | South Essex Homes

If you fall behind with your rent, we will discuss your situation, help you find a way forward and, where appropriate, refer you to independent advice services. You can also seek free independent advice from Citizens Advice. 

The best way to deal with a debt is to contact us early, so we can help you deal with it while the amount is small enough to cope with. 

You can read our full Specialist Income Management Service Standard here: Specialist Income Management Service Standard | South Essex Homes