Rent arrears cleared for victim of domestic violence
CHAC Case study
Emily’s story
Mother-of-two Emily incurred rent arrears exceeding £4,000 after being rehoused due to domestic violence.
Emily had been a secure tenant living in Canterbury with her baby and dependent child. The father of her eldest child was a regular visitor and moved in with Emily at the beginning of the first Covid-19 lockdown. During this time however, the man became violent towards Emily and she was forced to make a homelessness application to the Council.
Emily was rehoused in Dover. Canterbury City Council paid her housing benefit for the temporary accommodation in Dover but did not pay any housing benefit for her accommodation in Canterbury.
Due to some bad advice Emily had received, and the trauma of the violence she had suffered, there was some miscommunication with the Council - the Benefits Department believed Emily was not going to return to her secure Council property in Canterbury and, with rent arrears approaching £4,000, the Council wanted to regain possession.
How CHAC helped
Emily contacted us in April to say she felt safe to return to home. On our advice, she gave notice to end her temporary accommodation in Dover and moved back to Canterbury. We helped Emily get housing benefit back into payment for her accommodation from the date of her return.
Working in cooperation with the manager of the Council’s Income Recovery Team, we also sought to reinstate backdated housing benefit for Emily’s accommodation in Canterbury. This was not easy; Emily and her mother had previously told the Council’s Housing Benefits Department that she could not return to her secure Council tenancy because of the violence she had suffered.
The outcome
The Department eventually accepted our argument that Emily had always intended to return as she had not given Notice to Quit to end her tenancy in Canterbury. Emily received backdated housing benefit of £4,000, clearing all her rent arrears.