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Struggling with your rent?

Maxine McCreadie
Maxine McCreadie

7th August 2020

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Thousands of Scots are falling behind in rent payments, recent reports have revealed.

According to industry figures less than half of all rent across the UK has been paid to landlords during lockdown with the number of those in arrears continually rising.

As the nation continues to come to terms with the ‘new normal’ in the aftermath of the coronavirus lockdown, and no payment breaks offered for renters there are fears that even more Scots could find themselves living with rent arrears – especially those unable to work.

 

What causes rent arrears?

The answer to this question may appear obvious: not paying your rent causes rent arrears.  However, one of the most important things you can do, if you are in rent arrears, is to understand why.

There can be various reasons why people get into rent arrears and understanding why is important to rectify the problem.

For example, if it is because you were off sick and had to live on Statutory Sick Pay, which is only £95.85 per week, then you may have been entitled to Universal Credit to help with your housing costs.

Alternatively, if you were furloughed, you may only have received 80% of your normal earnings, so you may have struggled with your rent.

However, if that is the case, the question is did you prioritise other bills, like credit cards and loans before paying your rent? When you struggle to cover the cost of all of your bills it is important to prioritise some payments over others and rent should always be considered a top priority.

 

Could you have applied for a Discretionary Housing Payment?

Sometimes the reason for falling into rent arrears isn’t just as simple as not paying a bill.

People on Universal Credit may even find themselves in trouble if the benefit isn’t enough to cover the cost of full rent. This may be because their rent is too high, and the government will not pay it all. It may also have been because the amount of benefits they were entitled to were capped by the government.

It has been revealed that since lockdown, there has been a 93% increase in the number of people affected by the benefit cap and those worse effected has been those who rent.

However, what many people have not realised is, if this is the case, they may be entitled to grants paid by local authorities called Discretionary Housing Payments, which can be paid temporarily to make up the difference between what you owe and what you get to pay your rent.

To apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment, you must apply to your local authority, most of whom have the application forms on their websites.

 

What should you do if you have rent arrears?

There are several different things you can do if you have rent arrears.

First, make sure you are receiving all the benefits you are entitled to and if they are not paying all your rent, apply to your local council for a Discretionary Housing Payment.

Second, speak to your landlord. This may not be something you feel comfortable with and you may be concerned about their reaction, but most landlords would prefer to know if you are not going to pay them, so they understand why. It may be the difference between them taking steps to evict you and not.

They will also be less worried if they know you are applying for Universal Credit, or a Discretionary Housing Payment.

Some landlords, also, may even agree to temporarily reduce your rent, if the government will not pay it all, rather than have you fall into arrears. This would be on the basis you resume normal payments once you are back on your feet.

Finally, once you can, you need to agree on a repayment plan with your landlord. This means making sure the full rent, or the reduced amount you have agreed is being paid on time, with an additional top-up payment going towards your arrears. This will ensure your arrears are not increasing and, in fact, are going down.

 

Can your landlord evict you?

In Scotland, the process for evicting you is different if you are a private-sector tenant or have a housing association or a local authority as your landlord.

With private Landlords, they must first serve on you a Notice to Leave; and if you are a tenant of a Social Landlord, they must serve on you a Notice of Proceedings. Currently, in Scotland, both these notices must give you six-month notice where the reason the Landlord wants to evict you is rent arrears.  This is to allow you to get advice.

When your landlord is a private landlord, they must also take their action to the First-Tier Tribunal for Scotland; when you are a tenant of a Social Landlord, they must first take you to the Sheriff Court.

Your landlord cannot evict you in Scotland, without an order from one of these bodies. If they try to, it is an illegal eviction and you can call the police.

 

Maxine McCreadie
Maxine McCreadie

Maxine is an experienced writer, specialising in personal insolvency. With a wealth of experience in the finance industry, she has written extensively on the subject of Individual Voluntary Arrangements, Protected Trust Deed's, and various other debt solutions.

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HISTORY

Our debt experts continually monitor the personal finance and debt industry, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

Current Version

August 7 2020

Written by
Maxine McCreadie

Edited by
Ben McCormack

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