If you cannot pay your rent or you fall behind
with your payments, please contact your Rent Service Officer as
soon as possible on either 020 8430 2500 or
freephone 0800 952 9000. We will be able to tell
you what to do. When you get through, just ask for the Rent Service
Officer that deals with your address.
The sooner you contact us, the more help we will be able to offer.
We are here to help and are always ready to give you advice and
support before the situation gets worse.
The Rent Service Officer understands that sometimes things go wrong
and you may not be able to pay your rent on time. If this happens,
you should let us know straight away. If you cannot pay all the
rent that you owe on your account, we may be able to come to a
reasonable agreement with you to clear the debt. However, it is
important that if you make a promise to pay, you keep it.
If you are on a low income, you may also be able to claim Housing
Benefit to help with your rent or other welfare benefits to assist
you. If you would like to discuss this, you can ring our Welfare
Rent Adviser on 020 8430 6778.
You can speak to your Rent Service Officer face to face if you
prefer. They will visit you at home if you ask or you can go to one
of their weekly surgeries around the borough. If you phone us and
give your address, we can tell you the name, venue and surgery
times of your Officer, or you can write to your Rent Service
Officer at:
Rent Services
PO Box 68602
London, E15 9BZ
You can also get advice on rent arrears and other debts from other
advice centres and organisations. The following organisations offer
help and debt counselling and advice.
Community Links
Tel: 020 7473 2270
105 Barking Road
Canning Town E16
The drop-in surgery is open from Monday to Thursday (please get
there at 9.30am) or you can book an appointment by contacting your
Rent Service Officer.
National Debtline
Tel:
Freephone: 0808 808 4000
If you want information on Newham's Credit
Union, please contact:
NewCred Community Credit Union Ltd
1 Water
Lane
Stratford London E15 4LU
Please call 020 8555 5388 for more information.
Points for your information
It is very important that you pay your rent regularly and do not
build up any rent arrears because if you do owe rent you:
- may be refused a transfer and other benefits
associated with being a council tenant
- will not be able to use our household contents
insurance scheme
- will not be able to carry out a mutual exchange
- will not be able to rent a garage from us
- will not get a good reference for a building
society
- risk court action being taken against you, which could
mean that you are evicted from your home.
If you are taken to court and we get a possession order and
money judgement, you:
- may not be able to get credit to buy goods
- will be ordered to pay our costs
- will not be able to pass on your tenancy to another
member of your household if you die
- will lose the right to buy your home
- are very likely to be evicted if you do not repay the
arrears owed.
It is then very important that you contact us as quickly as
possible if you cannot pay your rent for any reason.