Our approach to rent debt
We expect our tenants to pay their rent on time and in full.
We’ve made changes to how we manage rent debt to help prevent tenants from getting too far behind.
If a tenant misses a rent payment, we’ll get in touch quickly to understand why they have fallen behind and get back on track with their rent. Any missed rent must be repaid, and we can help put a reasonable repayment arrangement in place if needed.
We'll continue to support households who fall on hard times but are making genuine attempts to get back on track with their rent. We’re a social housing landlord so that’s the right thing to do.
But we are drawing a line on how patient we can be.
We are taking a firmer approach with the small number of tenants who are not meeting their obligations to reduce their rent debt, are skipping rent payments or refusing to work with us.
If this happens, we will take steps to end the tenancy.
We're taking action to prevent large debts in future. Our new approach seeks to ensure that tenants will not have accumulated more than 12 weeks’ worth of rent debt when their tenancy is ended.
This means we will begin the process of ending a tenancy earlier than in the past.
Partial rent debt reduction
A small number of tenants owe a significant amount of rent debt.
We’re helping some of these tenants get on top of their rent debt faster by reducing the amount owed to a level that is more realistic for them to repay in full.
We’re only doing this for tenants who had 12 weeks’ worth of rent debt at the beginning of February 2025 and are consistently paying their rent and making reasonable payments to reduce their rent debt.
In return, tenants must continue reducing what they owe and paying their rent on time and in full. If that doesn’t happen, we will take steps to end their tenancy.
We think this is the right thing to do. The likelihood of collecting all this debt is low, given the time it will take customers to pay it off and the significant costs associated with chasing it. We also carry a measure of responsibility as during the pandemic we didn’t chase debt in the way we normally would.
All tenants whose debt is reduced will still have a significant amount to repay. And they’ll have a strong incentive to do this under our new policy.
Looking ahead
It’s important we strike the right balance between supporting households in difficult circumstances and ensuring that our tenants meet their obligations. We will be closely monitoring the impact of both the new rent debt policy and partial rent debt reduction to ensure we have the right balance. If necessary, we will make further adjustments.
Frequently asked questions
Only tenants who owed more than 12 weeks’ worth of rent debt at the start of February 2025 are potentially eligible to receive a reduction in what they owe. To be eligible, they also be consistently paying their rent and making reasonable payments to reduce their debt. In return, tenants must continue to pay their rent on time and repay what they owe. But if they do not do this, we will take steps to end their tenancy.
If you are eligible, you will hear from us directly. Our frontline teams will be contacting customers who are potentially eligible in the coming weeks.
The minimum weekly repayment amounts have been carefully considered, and it is important that you stick to them. If you are struggling with your budget, where possible we can connect you with budgeting support services in your area who may be able to help you get on top of your finances so you can keep making the repayments and continue your tenancy.
See our budgeting page for more information on services that can help.
We will continue to support tenants who fall behind on their rent and are making genuine attempts to get back on track with their payments. We're a social housing landlord, so that's the right thing to do.
But we are drawing a line on how patient we can be. It's important to remember that we will end tenancies if tenants do not meet their obligations be ignoring rent debt, regularly skipping rent payments and refusing to work with us. We will do this more quickly than we have in the past to help ensure tenants do not accumulate more than 12 weeks' worth of rent when their tenancy is ended.
Page updated: 11 February 2025