Housing assocation rent arrears?

ancojo2

Our housing association keep sending us letters telling us we are in arrears and to contact them to sort a payment schedule but we claim full housing benefit which was explained the first time I wrang BUT they said because 2024 was a 53 week year and they take rent payments on a Monday of which there are 53 this year we would owe a weeks rent as UC only pay for 52? I explained this has never happened before and was told its because we are now on UC not legacy benefits so we are the ones who must pay the extra 53rd week!

We received yet another letter today which bangs on about tenancy agreement arrears and eviction so I tried ringing them again today but was waiting on phone for over an hour and as I have more important things to be doing such as caring I put it down.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

elsien

What they are saying is correct  - they  multiply the weekly rent by 52 then divide by 12.  Which leaves a shortfall when 53 Mondays fall into the year. 

So it’s either pay a little extra each month over the year or end with an extra week to find in one go. 

It only affects people on weekly rents, not those who pay per calendar month. It does seem unfair, but it’s the system that there is. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce7xled8zx3o.amp

Your housing association should’ve warned you at the start of the financial year though. Can you come up with a payment plan with them?

fatbelly

Give them a week's rent to shut them up

HillStreetBlues

elsien said:

What they are saying is correct  - they  multiply the weekly rent by 52 then divide by 12.  Which leaves a shortfall when 53 Mondays fall into the year. 

So it’s either pay a little extra each month over the year or end with an extra week to find in one go. 

It only affects people on weekly rents, not those who pay per calendar month. It does seem unfair, but it’s the system that there is. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce7xled8zx3o.amp

Your housing association should’ve warned you at the start of the financial year though. Can you come up with a payment plan with them?

It's not really that unfair, those on weekly rent will get paid 52 weeks and 1 day but only pay rent for 52 weeks. Those days add up so at some point will result is a 53 payments.

TimeLord1

They won't evict you, over a weeks rent sort out a payment plan to cover it. If you're disabled or medically sick, no judge will evict you. All they would make an order for is a payment plan. And it would be a loss anyway to the housing association so pointless exercise really.

poppy12345

ancojo2 said:

 I explained this has never happened before and was told its because we are now on UC not legacy benefits so we are the ones who must pay the extra 53rd week!

I rent from social housing and still claim housing benefit. The 53 week year has affected me this year and social housing contacted me earlier in the year to advise me. Now I pay a small amount each month and by the end of the tax year I will no longer be in arrears. 

marcia_

 My friend had one of these letters stating UC won't pay for the extra week and they must pay it themselves. Payment was made for that week and no more letters. 

HampshireH

Paying your rent should be quite important to you 

You can be on hold on loud speaker whilst getting on with other things.

It's fairly standard and you will need to make up the difference.

Many Houisng Associations have online customer accounts. Does yours? You can usually set up payment online

Newcad

It actually happens every four or five years.

There are not 53 weeks in the year, just 53 Mondays which is the day when weekly rent is usuallly payable to HA's

Housing Benefit if paid directly to HA's is/was paid every 4-weeks so it made no difference how many Mondays were in a particular year.

However UC is paid monthly and not by weeks.

So seemingly there is a discrepancy - It isn't real - it's just how it looks on paperwork and more importantly these days in the HAs computer programes, some HAs do handle it badly, and their staff don't understand it.

At the most (unless you already have rent arrears) you may be up to 6-days late paying your rent in ADVANCE depending on when your UC payments fall.

(Private Landlords tend to be even more clueless about it when they are getting direct payment of benefits).

In most HA properties you pay rent in advance NOT in arrears.

So when they say they say that the 53 Mondays will put you in arrears they actually mean 'not in advance' which of course is not quite the same thing.

To keep them happy just pay a little extra, which means than at the start of April next year you will be a week in advance.

(I have actually been paying a little bit extra rent for a couple of years now, so that now when my UC gets paid in it makes my rent account at least 5 weeks in advance each month, to cover the next 5 Mondays because there can be 5 Mondays in any UC month)

poppy12345

Newcad said:

Housing Benefit if paid directly to HA's is/was paid every 4-weeks so it made no difference how many Mondays were in a particular year.

Mine is paid weekly, directly to HA and not 4 weekly. 

Newcad

poppy12345 said:

Newcad said:

Housing Benefit if paid directly to HA's is/was paid every 4-weeks so it made no difference how many Mondays were in a particular year.

Mine is paid weekly, directly to HA and not 4 weekly. 

Is that a direct to the HA payment though, or paid to you?
You can have weekly HB if it is paid to you.
But that would be very unusual for direct-to-landlord payments.Those are normally made every 28 days by HB.

UC ? Very little chance of anything other than monthly payments, even the Scottish Choice, or the APA, system of 'fortnightly' is a work around and not really fortnighly, and I'm not sure if it includes Housing Element paid directly to HAs or private landlords?
The not-quite-fortnightly payments are more of a (Monthly) 'Advance payment' than anything else.