 |
TELEPHONE: 0208 985 7120EMAIL: info@shian.org.uk |
Rent
Shian’s rents are charged weekly in advance and are due on Monday of each week. If you would like to pay your rent monthly you will need to seek agreement from your housing officer. These payments will need to be paid monthly in advance. We provide our tenants with quarterly rent statements, except where your home is managed by an external agency i.e. Kurdish HA, Bangla HA.
How do I pay my rent?
Paying the rent is the most important part of your tenancy with us. The money we collect from rents goes to pay for the services that we provide for you. So we want to make it as easy as possible for you to pay your rent and other charges.
This means giving you a wide choice of different ways to pay so you can choose the best and most convenient one for you. Here are the choices you have:
If you have one of Shian’s AllPay rent payment cards you can make payments by the following methods:
Online payments - by visiting www.allpay.net and selecting “Make a payment online”.
Telephone payments - by telephoning the automated telephone service on 0844 557 8315 and quoting your card reference number.
Paypoint – you can make cash or card payments at any locations displaying the Paypoint logo.
Post Office – you can make cash, cheque or card payments at any post office using your Allpay card.
If you do not have Shian’s AllPay rent payment you can request one from our offices, you can also make payments by one of the following methods:
Visiting Shian’s offices – we accept cash and cheque payments at the office. You need to ensure that our staff give you a receipt when you have made your payment. Unfortunately we are unable to accept any card payments in our offices.
Standing Orders – you can arrange for your bank to make standing order payments into Shian’s account. You will need to ensure that you quote your tenancy reference number on any payments made this way. Contact our Finance Officer for standing order payment details.
At a bank – you will need to contact our Finance Officer for the payment details, to enable you to make payments directly through your bank. You should ensure that your tenancy reference number on any payments made in this way.
Rent Arrears
If you get into rent arrears with your rent and fail to clear the debt or come to an agreement acceptable to us, we have the right to take you to court and seek eviction. The steps to eviction are given below and are used as a last resort.
- You will receive a Notice of Seeking /Requiring Possession or a Notice to Quit
- If you do not repay the debt you will receive a possession summons giving a date for a hearing at the county court.
- If the debt is not cleared in full then the court can either make an Outright Order or Suspended Possession Order, if you do not repay the debt after a Suspended Order you will receive a Warrant of Possession with an eviction date.
You should contact us as soon as possible if you get into arrears. Our Housing Team may be able to provide you with advice on where you can get information to claim benefits or how to deal with your arrears.
How is my rent worked out?
In 2001, the Government introduced rent restructuring rules. We follow these rules to work out your rent using a Government formula. Before March 2012, we have to move your rent to what is known as a ‘target rent’. The formula applies to rents only (not service charges). Target rents can be above or below the rent you currently pay.
Your rent is based on:
- the average earnings for the area compared to the national average
- the number of bedrooms in your home
- the value of your home in January 1999
- the national average housing association property value in January 1999.
Any change in your rent will depend upon the amount of rent you pay now compared with the new target rent. The Government has set a limit on rent increases. This limit is worked out in the following way:
We add 0.5% to the Retail Price Index (RPI). (RPI is more or less another term for inflation).
Then, we either add or take off £2.00 per week in order to move to the ‘target rent’.
Once a property reaches its target rent, the Government limit the annual increase to 0.5% in addition to the Retail Price Index.
If you’ve been paying more than the target rent, we have to lower it. In this case, your rent will either have decreased already or will decrease to the new lower level in the future.
Each year, our Group Board, which includes residents, approves our budget including rent levels and rent increases.
Copyright © 2010 Shian Housing Association Ltd | Designed by SRD Marketing