£2500 Rent Arrears Council Flat. Need advice on what to do? 15 September 2022 at 9:45AM in Benefits & tax credits 14 replies 1.5K views

macman

OP, what discussions/correspondence have you had with the LA about the arrears? A possession order is the last stage, not the first, as it doesn't help them recover the actual arrears, it merely prevents the debt increasing.
As advised above, it's not based on a static sum, but on the basis of how many weeks/months you are in arrears.

tifo

how many months arrears is it

seatbeltnoob

Speak to council and get a payment plan in place. We have similar arrears in my mums house for some ancient HB recalculation. They couldn't explain to us what it was for or why. They gave very confusing statements which we couldn't make any sense of. 

In the end just gave up and paid the HB overpayment reclamation which was £10 a week. 

Took years to pay off the £2500 overpayment. 

They won't do any eviction if you're on a payment plan to pay it off. 

I do wonder what happens next when council evicts you. They can't put you out on the streets, surely. 

elsien

seatbeltnoob said:

Speak to council and get a payment plan in place. We have similar arrears in my mums house for some ancient HB recalculation. They couldn't explain to us what it was for or why. They gave very confusing statements which we couldn't make any sense of. 

In the end just gave up and paid the HB overpayment reclamation which was £10 a week. 

Took years to pay off the £2500 overpayment. 

They won't do any eviction if you're on a payment plan to pay it off. 

I do wonder what happens next when council evicts you. They can't put you out on the streets, surely. 

Why not? 

There is a responsibility towards vulnerable groups- children, people with disabilities - but not for those of us who are fit and healthy, however the arrears arose.
Which is why it’s important for the OP to start making inroads into the debt as opposed to just maintaining it at its current level even if it’s only by token amounts.