All tenants receive a yearly rent statement in April. If you aren’t up to date with your rent payments (in debt), then you’ll also receive a statement every quarter during the year.
We’ve listened, learned and improved the way we communicate with you by introducing a newly designed rent statement letter and FAQs. From your feedback, we know that understanding and viewing them can be overwhelming, especially if you are struggling to pay or trying to get back on track with your payments. We have produced some information to help you understand your rent statement and answer any questions you may have.
Here’s an image of what your statement will look like and what the different parts mean:
We want to work with you to understand any difficulties you may be facing and if you’re struggling with paying your rent and the rising cost of living. Our friendly team can support you by making sure you’re receiving the financial support that you’re entitled to including Universal Credit, Housing Benefit and other benefits you may qualify for. We can provide wellbeing support or support with volunteering, training and employment.
We have dedicated money advisors who can offer free and impartial money & debt advice, talk you through the options available and help you with the solution you choose. We can also support you with setting up repayment plans, advise on utilities, give advice on budgeting and help you to claim other funding that may be available such as Discretionary Housing Payments, HELP scheme, Household Support Fund and other funds/charitable schemes.
If you would like support, then please complete an online website form below or call us on 0300 123 5522. We’ll do all we can to support you.
Your rent is charged weekly in advance every Monday, in line with your tenancy agreement, and the debt is money that you owe for rent that hasn’t been paid, also known as arrears. If you are in debt then this means you’re not up to date with your rent payments, you should contact our team to discuss how we can help you to get your account into credit and understand any support that we can provide for you.
Evicting you from your home is always the absolute last resort. We will do everything we can to keep you in your home by listening to you, to get an understanding of your situation. We can then help you to get your rent account up to date, by offering you the right support and setting up an affordable repayment plan.
You can contact our friendly team to discuss your rent account and the options for setting up an affordable repayment plan, you can also contact us via web chat which can be found on the homepage of the website in the right-hand corner, or by completing the web form below.
Sometimes it can take a few days for money to show on your account. It might have been a few days since we printed your statement and put it in the post, and this is why it doesn’t look up to date. We advise you to check you rent account amount again in a week or so.
You can also use our MyAccount+ app to keep track of your rent account, our app also allows you to report & track repairs and make payments, further information can be found here – MyAccount+ – ForHousing. Or you can request your balance using our web chat on the right hand corner of our website homepage.
If something still isn’t right, you can complete the online website form below or contact us on 0300 123 55 22.
If you have a clear rent account or are in credit, you will only receive a yearly statement in April. If you’re currently in debt, you will be receiving a rent statement every quarter that you are in debt.
If you don’t pay your rent weekly or in advance, then some debt will continue to increase on your account until your next rent payment is made. For example, the amount you pay for rent will get charged to you each week, then once you make your payment, this is credited to your account and balance will then be amended. Your rent statement shows your rent charged and payments made in real time, as of when it was printed. If you receive your statement between this period, this may show you’re your account is in debt.
Ideally, we would ask you to increase your payments slightly so that over time your account will be in credit before you next make a rent payment.
It may be that your Housing Benefit is not fully covering your rent or that you were in debt before Housing Benefit started paying your rent in full. A re-payment plan is needed to ensure that your debt is reduced and that you bring your account into credit.
Universal Credit is paid monthly in arrears for your rent, this means that your account will accrue some debt before a payment is made to clear the outstanding balance as your rent will be charged each week as normal and then your Universal Credit will get credited to your account once received.
If Universal Credit are also paying an amount towards your rent debt, this payment is made 4 weekly in arrears and will appear on your rent account in the same way.
You can log onto the MyAccount+ app to see the most up to date balance on your rent account or ask us for a statement using web chat which can be found on the homepage of the website in the right hand corner.
If you paid in some money on or close to the date we sent your rent statement, then it may not have had time to show on your rent account. This date can be found in your rent statement letter.
If the payment was a week or more before that date, then something may be wrong, please complete an online enquiry form below or call us on 0300 123 5522.
Although your rent account may be in credit, you may not be entitled to a refund, we will need to look at how often you pay and when your next payment is due to ensure that you will not fall into debt should a refund be made. Please contact our team on 0300 123 5522 to check if you are entitled to a refund.
If you are entitled to a refund, we will send you a form to complete. Please note that before any refund is made a check is made with Cheshire West & Chester Council and if any money is owed to them, your debt with them is cleared first, before any refund is paid to you. We will also ensure that sufficient credit is left on your account to cover your rent until your next payment is due to avoid you falling into debt and in line with your tenancy agreement.
Please click here to find out how you can make payments towards your rent.
If you need your rent statement letter in a different language please call 0161 605 7260. For other formats such as large print, you can call 0300 123 5522.
For April 2024 to March 2025, this rent year has 53 weeks instead of 52, you will still receive your two rent free weeks (if you are not in arrears) however, in order to keep in line with the calendar year. From Monday 1 April 2024, the date your new rent starts from, you will need to pay for 51 Mondays rather than 50 and you will need to change your payments to ensure that you are paying enough and not falling into debt.
If you are in receipt of Housing Benefit or Housing Costs through Universal Credit, please see below for further information.
No, as you are on Housing Benefit, they work out your entitlement weekly and pay your award weekly for the weeks that you are charged, you will need to ensure that if you are not entitled to full Housing Benefit, that you pay your shortfall.
Yes, Universal Credit is calculated over a monthly period and in any financial year, will base their calculation on a maximum of 52 weeks, as there are 53 weeks in this financial year, there is one week you will need to make a payment for that is not covered by Universal Credit in the financial year. Please note that this is in addition to any shortfall you have in your award.
If you are concerned about your rent account or the extra week’s payment, please contact us today. Our friendly income team are on hand to help and support you.
