Housing Rights recently supported a young person to keep his social tenancy after he struggled to pay back rent arrears.
Our caseworker Eamon works with young people between 18 and 25 years old with housing problems. A youth support organisation recently referred a young person to Eamon for support. Marc, one of their service users, was struggling with housing association rent arrears. He had got a letter about a court hearing and needed support.
With their permission, Eamon contacted this young person to see if Housing Rights could help.
Arrears built over time
Marc is 22 years old and works part-time. He has been a housing association tenant for about two years. He fell behind in his rent when his hours at work dropped. He applied for Universal Credit to help pay his rent.
The amount of help he gets with his rent depends on how many hours he works each week. Universal Credit does not cover his full rent and Marc struggled to understand his Universal Credit online journal. He was not sure how to find out how much each payment would be.
Possession action for arrears
Marc’s arrears grew to about £15,000. He made some big repayments, but these were not consistent. His housing association made the decision to take legal action to evict Marc. This meant there would be a court hearing. The judge would decide whether it was reasonable to end the tenancy because of the arrears.
Money coming in and money going out
The first step in helping Marc was to figure out whether his rent and rates were affordable. Eamon asked Marc to fill in an income and expenditure form. This helps make it clear what money is:
- coming in
- going out
- available to pay off arrears
Eamon needed this this information to establish a repayment plan that Marc could afford and stick to until the arrears were paid off. In the past, Marc had promised to pay more than he could afford and then missed payments.
Pre-action protocol
Each housing association has its own arrears recovery policies. But all social landlords must follow the ‘Pre-Action Protocol for Ejectment Proceedings Based on Non-Payment of Rent in the Social Housing Sector’. This is usually referred to as the 'pre-action protocol'. This protocol only applies to social tenancies and not the private rented sector.
The protocol explains the steps the courts expect social landlords to take:
- before starting possession action and
- right up to the date of the hearing
Aims of the protocol
The main aim of the protocol is to make sure court action is the last step in dealing with rent arrears. The protocol encourages:
- tenants and social landlords to act fairly and reasonably with each other
- more contact between landlord and tenant to reach an agreement
Housing associations should not ask tenants to make payments that they cannot afford to keep up.
Negotiating a repayment agreement
With the pre-action protocol in mind, Eamon contacted the housing association. He explained that Housing Rights was supporting Marc and that he would like to agree a plan to pay off the arrears. Eamon gave them a copy of his income and expenditure form and asked them to allow Marc to pay his full rent and rates plus £5 towards his arrears each week.
The housing association felt that Marc could afford to pay more towards his arrears and asked for £10 a week. Marc and Eamon looked carefully at Marc’s income and expenditure. They talked about areas where he could cut back on his spending and Marc said he would ask his employer for more hours.
Marc was keen to pay off his arrears as quickly as possible and felt confident that he could sustain the £10 a week repayment. Marc agreed to set up a standing order with his bank to pay the £10 every week.
Keeping on top of Universal Credit payments
As well as repaying his arrears, Marc needed to make sure he paid his full rent every month. If his Universal Credit payment did not cover his full rent, Marc would need to make a top-up payment.
Eamon helped Marc understand his Universal Credit online journal. He explained to Marc that he needs to log into his journal a few days before each payment date to check how much he is going to get.
This would give Marc the chance to work out how much he needs to add to his rent payment. This is especially important for Marc because his income changes every month.
Going to court
Although the housing association agreed to a repayment plan, they still went ahead with a court hearing. Housing associations often do this if:
- a repayment plan is agreed very close to a court date
- a tenant has not stuck to repayment agreements in the past
- rent arrears are high
At the hearing, the housing association asked the courts for a possession order with a ‘stay’. This means that the housing association will not enforce the order as long as Marc keeps making the payments.
However, if Marc misses a payment again, the housing association can ask the Enforcements of Judgment Office to enforce the court order without going back to court. If this happens, Marc is very likely to lose his home.
Housing Rights represented Marc at an online hearing. We ensured the courts heard the facts of Marc’s case and recorded:
- the agreed repayment plan, and
- a possession order with a stay as long as Marc makes repayments
Keeping up with repayments
Since the court hearing, Marc has been paying his rent and rates each week. He has also been careful to make sure that there is enough money in his account each week to cover the £10 arrear repayment. Marc feels much more confident about using his Universal Credit online journal to find out how much his payment is going to be.
If you, or someone you’re supporting, is struggling with rent arrears contact Housing Rights for information and advice.
