Pay Your Rent

We appreciate that tenants may at some time have difficulty paying their rent. Help and advice is always available and we will make every effort to take a sympathetic approach where someone is having financial difficulties.

If you know you will have difficulty paying your rent it is best to get help and advice as quickly as possible from our Housing Services Team. You can discuss your arrears by telephone or make an appointment to come to the office. If this is not possible, our staff can visit you at home.

Our staff can make an affordable arrangement for you to pay back your arrears. We do this by considering how much money you have coming in and how much you must payout.

If you are joint tenants, you should remember that each member of the joint tenancy is responsible for making sure that the rent is paid in full.

Universal Credit (Housing Costs)

For most working-age tenants, Universal Credit replaced Housing Benefit and the help with your rent, in most cases, will be paid

directly to you instead of Cloch. If you struggle to manage money or have other difficulties, you could choose to have help with your rent paid to the Association directly.

Universal Credit could help meet the cost of:

the amount of your rent (excluding any payment towards arrears);

any eligible service charges.

You will be asked about the number of bedrooms you have to compare with how many you are thought to need, to see if you are under occupying the property.

To make a claim for Universal Credit you must make an online claim at https://www.gov.uk/apply-universal-credit

Housing Benefit

Housing Benefit helps people who are not of working age pay their rent. You could get Housing Benefit if you are on other benefits or if

you’re working but in most cases, if you are of working age you must claim Universal Credit.

If you want to make a claim or get advice, you should ask Inverclyde Council for an application form. Please contact us if you would like any help or advice to complete the form. The amount of Housing Benefit you will get depends on the amount of money you have coming into the house and any savings you may have. The number and ages of any people in your house will also be considered. Inverclyde Council will send you a letter telling you the outcome of your claim. You should contact us to find out how much rent you should pay. Even if you do not qualify at first, if your circumstances change in any way, you can contact the Council to make a new claim.

Please note that any delay in applying for Universal Credit or Housing Benefit may mean a loss of benefit and could result in rent arrears.

Both Universal Credit and Housing Benefit can be paid direct to you or to us. Even if the payment is paid direct to us, it is still your

responsibility to make sure it is being paid. Please also ensure that you reply to any letter you receive from the Department of Work and

Pensions (DWP) or the Council. If you don’t, it could lead to your payments being cancelled, leaving you with the full rent to pay.

If you think we have broken the tenancy agreement or failed to do anything we promised, you can make a complaint using our Complaints Procedure. If we have failed to carry out our maintenance obligations under the Scottish Secure Tenancy Agreement, you have the right to withhold your rent until we do comply with our obligations.

However, you may only do so if:

• You have notified us of the need for a repair in writing; AND
• We have not done these repairs within a reasonable period; AND
• You have made a formal complaint under our Complaints Procedure; AND
• You have finished the Complaints Procedure and are still dissatisfied and 3 months have passed since you made the formal complaint.

You are strongly advised to take legal advice if you are considering withholding your rent, as non-payment of rent could result in your home being repossessed.