YOUR RENT
The rent you pay covers the cost of managing your home and carrying out repairs to it. The housing association that owns your home decides how much rent you pay. Their handbook will explain how your rent is set. Under your tenancy agreement you are an assured, or assured shorthold, tenant and the rent that you pay will change each year. This will usually be one year after your tenancy started, or on the first Monday in April each year. Apna Ghar will send a letter that tells you what your new rent will be. This new rent level will have been decided by the housing association that owns your home. |
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YOUR SERVICE CHARGE
If you live in a flat or house that has extra services, or where you share some areas (such as a garden) with other tenants, you will pay a service charge. This is also set by the housing association that owns your home. This charge will be shown on your tenancy agreement when you first move in. The service charge will be reviewed each year. |
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Some examples of what the service charge can cover are: |
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looking after shared gardens |
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cleaning shared halls or stairs |
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looking after door entry systems |
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caretaking |
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looking after lifts |
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heating and lighting in communal areas |
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| HOUSING BENEFIT |
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Housing benefit can help you pay your rent if your income is not high enough: |
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if you are a new tenant we will give you a housing benefit claim form and information about other welfare
benefits, when you move into your home. |
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if you are already a tenant and your income changes or the rent goes up, you may become entitled to claim housing benefit. Please contact your local council for a claim form or ask us for one. |
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if you are already getting housing benefit, you need to renew your claim each year. Your council will send you a renewal form when your claim is due. Please fill in this form or your benefit will stop. We suggest that you arrange to have your housing benefit paid directly to us. |
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| Your Housing/Supported Housing Officer can give you a form to sign and help you with your claim for benefit. Your Housing/Supported Housing Officer can also help you to make claims for other welfare benefits. |
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COUNCIL TAX
If you live in your own flat or house, you will be responsible for paying council tax. You may be able to get council tax benefit. You should fill in a claim form if you think you might be entitled. |
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HOW TO PAY YOUR RENT
Your rent is due weekly and should be paid in advance. Check with Apna Ghar first if you are not sure how much you should be paying. Make sure you pay the correct amount otherwise you may build up arrears. You can pay your rent in the following ways: |
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by bank or building society standing order. We can give you a form to set this up, which you send to your bank or building society after you have filled it in. When the rent goes up, you will have to change the standing order - as it does not happen automatically. |
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payment at any Barclays bank. You do not need to have a bank account to pay this way. Your Housing/Supported Housing Officer will arrange for a paying-in book. |
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by internet banking. Your Housing/Supported Housing Officer will provide you with further details on request. |
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by cheque or postal order. You can send these to our office. Your cheque should be made out to Apna Ghar HA Ltd. Please make sure that your name and address is on the back and do not send cash through the post. Please let us know if you want a receipt for your payment. |
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by housing benefit direct. If you get housing benefit you can arrange for it to be paid directly to us. - at our office. |
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You can come into our office to pay your rent, by cheque or postal order. We cannot accept cash. |
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Please ensure your tenant reference number is used whenever ad however you pay rent |
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RENT STATEMENTS
We will send you a rent statement every three months, but you can ask for one at any time. The statement will tell you how much rent you should have paid each week and how much you have paid. Please let us know if you have any problems with the details on your statement. |
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WHAT HAPPENS IF I DON'T PAY?
Tell us at once if you are having problems paying your rent, and we will give you advice about what to do. If you cannot pay off the debt straight away, then we need to come to an agreement with you about how much you can pay regularly to reduce it. We will send you a written copy of this agreement and check regularly to make sure that the amount owed is not increasing. |
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YOU COULD LOSE YOUR HOME IF YOUR RENT ARREARS INCREASE
If you still do not pay your rent, we may take you to court. This could mean that you lose your home. You can request a copy of Apna Ghar's rent arrears policy. This will explain: |
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what we will do to get back the rent you owe us |
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when we will take you to court if you do not pay your rent |
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