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RENTS, SERVICE CHARGES AND BENEFITS
Contents:
How your rent is set will depend on whether you have a secure or an assured tenancy. If you are not sure, check your tenancy agreement or ask us to confirm this for you.
If you are a secure tenant, the Rent Officer, who is totally independent of the Association, sets your rent. The Rent Officer sets a “Fair Rent”, based on the age of your home, where it is, and the availability of similar accommodation in your area.
The Rent Officer does not take personal circumstances into account when setting the rent. The rent is reviewed every two years and you will receive at least 28 days written notice from us before your rent changes.
If you are an assured tenant, the Association will set your rent. The rent must be enough to cover the cost of managing and maintaining your home. The rent is reviewed every year and you will receive at least 28 days written notice from us before your rent changes.
Yes, if you feel that the new rent is too high.
If you are a secure tenant, the Rent Officer will write to you before setting the new rent to advise you of the proposed changes. You have 28 days to make representations and the Rent Officer will note your comments before deciding the final rent. If you think that the final rent set by the Rent Officer is still too high, you may appeal to an independent Rent Assessment Committee who will reconsider the rent. Their decision is final. The rent fixed by the Rent Assessment Committee may be higher, lower or the same as the rent originally registered by the Rent Officer.
If you are an assured tenant, you may appeal to the Rent Assessment Committee, who will compare your rent with rents charged for similar properties and to other market rents in the area.
You will be told how to appeal and how long it will take when you are advised of your rent changes.
You can pay your rent by one of the following methods:
STANDING ORDER -if you have a bank or building society account, you may pay by standing order. You will need to complete one of our standing order forms, which are available from our office.
SWIPE CARD -
this card will be issued to you at the start of your
tenancy. Just hand this card along with your cash/cheque payment at any Post
Office, Payment Network or PayzoneTM Network. Once swiped, you
will be given a receipt, please retain this for your records.
ON-LINE - Just log into the AllPay website by following this link.
DIRECT DEBIT - Click HERE to download the Direct Debit form (Requires Adobe Acrobat). Just print, complete and send the form to our offices.
CHEQUE -you can pay by taking/posting a cheque or postal order payable to Nashayman Housing to our office. Please write your name and address on the back of the cheque. Do not under any circumstances send cash through the post
CASH-you can pay by cash at our office.
HOUSING BENEFIT DIRECT-if you receive housing benefit you can arrange for this to be paid direct to us. If the benefit does not fully cover your rent, you will need to make arrangements to pay the shortfall by one of the methods listed above. Your Housing Officer can advise you further about this
You can request a statement by contacting our office. This will show all the payments we have received from you. Your Housing Officer will be able to help you with any queries that you may have. Please allow time for payments made by standing order to reach your account.
If you are on a low income or on benefit, you may be eligible to receive housing benefit to assist with paying your rent and council tax. Obtain a claim form from your local council. Housing benefit payments may cover all or part of your rent depending on your personal financial situation. How much benefit you get depends on how much money you earn, any savings you have and how many people live with you.
If you would like help in claiming housing benefit, or completing the forms, please contact your Housing Officer.
Please note that if you receive housing benefit, you must tell your local council straightaway if your situation changes. You must send back any renewal claim forms you receive as soon as possible. If you fail to do this, you may have to pay the rent yourself. If you are paid housing benefit, and you are not entitled to it the council will claim these payments back from Nashayman and this could mean that your rent account will fall into arrears.
Always ensure that the information given to the Housing Benefit Department is accurate and up to date otherwise you could be accused of making a fraudulent claim.
Always pay your rent on time. Your rent is due weekly in advance on Monday of each week. Claim all the benefits you are entitled to. Keep the Housing Benefit Department at the council informed of any changes in your financial circumstances and always return claim forms promptly.
If you find it difficult to pay your rent or you fall behind with payments, get in touch with your Housing Officer immediately, no matter how serious things seem. All discussions that take place will be in strict confidence.
If you contact us, we can:
Help you with your arrears before they get out of control
Make sure that you are claiming all the benefits you are entitled to
Help you with completing your housing benefit form
Put you in touch with other people who can help, such as Citizens Advice Bureau
Make an agreement with you about paying off your arrears
As long as you clear your arrears or keep to the arrangements to pay them off, there will not be risk of you losing your home. Where you fail to make payments or to keep to arrangements agreed, we will implement our arrears procedure, which could result in you being taken to court and ultimately being evicted.
A service charge covers “extras” we provide for your home or estate, for example:
Gardening
Cleaning communal halls or stairs
Lighting communal areas
Caretaker services
Maintaining door entry systems
The service charge is paid along with your rent. Your tenancy agreement provides details of what you are charged for as a service charge. Your service charge may be a fixed amount or variable. If it is variable, this means that it can be changed if our costs change. We may vary the services provided from time to time in consultation with you.
If you are a secure tenant, your service charge will be reviewed every two years at the same time as your rent. We supply the Rent Officer with details of which services we provide and give proof of our costs. If you are an assured tenant, we will review your service charge every year. If costs or services change significantly during the year, we may review the charge at other times too.
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Nashayman Housing
A sub-division of Home Group Limited (Charitable I & P No. 22981R) |
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