Can I be compelled?

Billy_Dandy

I currently live in a disabled adapted bungalow that is run by a charity.

My rent is below market value.

The charity has decided to hand the community (29 bungalows) to a housing association which will be taking over in July 2024.

Looking on HA website, they charge approximately £200 per month more for a 3-bedroom house than I pay now. (They don’t have 3 bed bungalows.)

I’ll assume that they will look for a similar rent.

If they put the rent up, it won’t be until April 2025.

I will have started my DMP before then.

I am inclined to use the ‘new’ rent in my calculations for SOA.

In a self-managed DMP, I have previously been advised that I don’t have to disclose anything, but I just wanted to be sure that in such an informal arrangement, I cannot be compelled by any organisation to provide proof of income & expenditure?

Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Any advice greatly appreciated.

Grumpelstiltskin

With a DMP no one can you compel you to provide details of income and expenditure and you can change your payments at any time if your circumstances change ie, large rent increase.

Remember a DMP is an informal debt solution not like DRO, Bankruptcy or IVA.

DisabledDan

Billy_Dandy said:

I currently live in a disabled adapted bungalow that is run by a charity.

My rent is below market value.

The charity has decided to hand the community (29 bungalows) to a housing association which will be taking over in July 2024.

Looking on HA website, they charge approximately £200 per month more for a 3-bedroom house than I pay now. (They don’t have 3 bed bungalows.)

I’ll assume that they will look for a similar rent.

If they put the rent up, it won’t be until April 2025.

I will have started my DMP before then.

I am inclined to use the ‘new’ rent in my calculations for SOA.

In a self-managed DMP, I have previously been advised that I don’t have to disclose anything, but I just wanted to be sure that in such an informal arrangement, I cannot be compelled by any organisation to provide proof of income & expenditure?

Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Any advice greatly appreciated.

Check the structure of the HA, if they were a charitable trust they may be acting against their core articles or covenants.

You might also ask them to not increase the rent on one go but to taper it in over 5 years.

If you do not own your own home and you are blowing up your credit record with a DMP why bother to pay any of your creditors a penny?

Never disclose anything to anyone.

sourcrates

@Billy_Dandy

Only a court can compel you to do anything, the rest of us are all equal under the law, no matter who they are or how much money they may have.

You can apply that to most things in life.

funny_bunny

Billy_Dandy said:

I currently live in a disabled adapted bungalow that is run by a charity.

My rent is below market value.

The charity has decided to hand the community (29 bungalows) to a housing association which will be taking over in July 2024.

Looking on HA website, they charge approximately £200 per month more for a 3-bedroom house than I pay now. (They don’t have 3 bed bungalows.)

I’ll assume that they will look for a similar rent.

If they put the rent up, it won’t be until April 2025.

I will have started my DMP before then.

I am inclined to use the ‘new’ rent in my calculations for SOA.

In a self-managed DMP, I have previously been advised that I don’t have to disclose anything, but I just wanted to be sure that in such an informal arrangement, I cannot be compelled by any organisation to provide proof of income & expenditure?

Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Any advice greatly appreciated.

There's a cap on how much HAs can increase the rent, I think it's up to 7%.Some HAs are going for the full 7% increase so you can work that out.

I personally would count that increase into SOA, and dont' forget the service charge too but as others said - in DMP you are not forced to disclose anything.

Some HAs offer rent credit through their own hardship fund for tenants experiencing financial difficulty, check with your new landlord if they can offer any financial assistance.