If you can’t pay your rent, or you think you may struggle to keep up with future payments, contact your housing officer immediately.
We can only help you if you get in touch straight away.
Notice of seeking possession
If you don't pay your rent, the first step in legal action against your tenancy is a notice of seeking possession. This will say that we intend to take you to court for an order to repossess your home and evict you.
The notice will give a date, at least 28 days ahead, after which you may be summoned to appear in court where a judge will consider your reasons for not paying your rent. If you take steps to put things right and bring your payments up to date during the notice period, we may agree not to take further action. However, once a notice has been served, it stays in force for 12 months and we can take the case to court at any time during that period.
Evictions
If your case is taken to court, we will normally ask for a possession order, suspended on payment of a weekly amount to reduce your arrears in addition to your normal rent. Providing you keep to this court order, you can't be evicted.
If you don't, we can ask the court for a warrant of possession to remove you from your home unless you've paid your debt in full. A bailiff will attend on the day set by the court and you will be evicted.
In exceptional cases, we may ask for a full possession order straight away and the judge may give us permission to evict you with no conditions attached.
If you have debt problems, Citizens Advice may be able to help you, but please always let us know of any decisions you've made. Find out more on the Citizens Advice website.
Repossession and eviction is a last resort if all attempts to help you have failed and you’ve not kept up with your payments.
Garage arrears
If your garage rent account is in arrears we don't need to take legal action to regain possession. The tenancy can be ended by written notice as per the terms of the garage tenancy agreement.