Struggling to pay your rent or mortgage

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Rent Arrears Support

If you are struggling with your rent payments, you may be worried about losing your home. Help and advice is available to prevent the situation getting worse, and it’s important you receive the support you need as soon as possible.

If you are at risk of losing your home, information and support is available on the Housing Advice Teams page.

What you can do:

  • contact your landlord and discuss a repayment plan, reassure them you are taking action to resolve the arrears
  • check our benefit calculator to find out if you are eligible for any benefits or financial assistance to increase your income
  • work through the Money Advice Handbook to set a manageable budget to plan your spending keeping costs down

If you need additional support to resolve your rent arrears, contact:

  • the Housing Advice Service for support to negotiate with your landlord, consider any financial or tenancy support, and discuss your housing options
  • a debt advice organisation for support to find out if you can increase your income, set a manageable budget, and make a decision on how to deal with your debts including any rent arrears or recovery action
  • the Rents Team on 0118 9372784 if you are a council tenant for additional advice and support.

Eviction support

If your landlord wants to bring your tenancy to an end, they are required to follow a legal procedure. To start this process, your landlord needs to issue you with a notice in writing.

The notice will differ depending on your tenancy type and whether you are a social or private rented tenant, but you should seek help and contact Housing Advice Service as soon as you receive one.

When the notice expires, your landlord can apply to the courts for a possession order. Please note that only a court-appointed bailiff can physically remove you from the property, and you should contact the Housing Advice Service if your landlord is attempting to do this.

The Housing Advice Service can:

  • check if the notice is valid
  • help to negotiate with your landlord
  • refer you for money advice
  • refer you for tenancy support
  • consider your alternative housing options, if prevention fails

If you are a Reading Borough Council tenant, please also contact the Rents Team on 0118 9372784 as they will be able to support you.

If you need emergency advice and assistance with a possession hearing at the court, Turpin Miller attend Reading County Court every Monday morning.   

If you qualify for legal aid, you may also be offered further assistance. For more information visit the Turpin Miller website or call 01865 770 111 and ask for the Housing Team.

Private rented eviction process

If you are renting from a private landlord with an Assured Shorthold Tenancy and they want you to leave, they are required to serve a valid section 21 or section 8 notice.

Your landlord can only apply to the courts for a possession order when the notice expires and you have not vacated your property. If your security deposit was protected, the notice was valid and the landlord’s paperwork is in order, the courts will grant a possession order.

If you haven’t left the property by the expiry date of the possession order, your landlord can apply for an eviction warrant from the court. Once the eviction warrant is issued, court-appointed bailiffs can remove you from the property.

Please note, if you share a property with your landlord, they do not have to give you notice in writing and apply to the courts. A ‘live-in’ landlord must provide you with a reasonable notice, which usually means 28 days. Once this ends you will need to vacate the property, but your landlord cannot use force to remove you.

If you received a notice from your landlord, please contact Housing Advice Service.

Social rented eviction process

If you are renting from a council or housing association and they want you to leave, you will be issued a ‘notice seeking possession’. The notice will explain why you are being asked to leave and when.

If you haven’t left before the expiry date, your landlord will need to apply to court for a possession order. Always seek advice and attend any court hearing.

At the court hearing a judge will decide whether to issue a possession order.

This could be an outright possession order or a suspended possession order, where you are given conditions in order to keep your home. If you don’t leave the property by the expiry of an outright possession order, your landlord can apply to the court to get a ‘warrant of possession’ that enable bailiffs to evict you from your home.

Please note, if your housing association issued you with an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, please refer to the private rented sector notices and eviction process section for advice.

If you received a notice from your landlord, please contact Housing Advice Service.

Struggling with mortgage payments

If you are struggling with your mortgage payments or have mortgage arrears, you may be worried about losing your home. Help and advice is available to prevent the situation getting worse, and it’s important you receive the support you need as soon as possible.

If you are at risk of losing your home, information and support is available on the Housing Advice Teams page.

The process of repossessing a property involves several stages and you can try to stop this process at any stage. The earlier you act the more options you will have.

What you can do:

  • contact your mortgage lender to discuss your circumstances, most lenders are required to deal fairly with customers in arrears. If they have signed up to The Mortgage Charter, there will be a range of support available to you.
  • contact a debt advice organisation  to explore your options, make a decision on what is right for you, support to contact your lender and deal with any court action. National Debtline and Shelter have useful guides.
  • if you are receiving a qualifying benefit, you may be eligible for help with your mortgage interest payments from the government loan scheme called Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI)
  • check our benefit calculator to find out if you are eligible for any benefits or financial assistance to increase your income.
  • work through the Money Advice Handbook to set a manageable budget to plan your spending keeping costs down.

If your mortgage lender starts court proceedings

Remember, the repossession process can be stopped even at this point.

Get urgent advice and support:

If you need emergency advice and assistance with a possession hearing at the court, Turpin Miller attend Reading County Court every Monday morning.  

If you qualify for legal aid, you may also be offered further assistance.

For more information visit the Turpin Miller website or call 01865 770 111 and ask for the Housing Team.

Last updated on 21/11/2024