Repayment plan proposed by CHAC helps man keep his home
CHAC Case study
Fred’s story
A repayment plan proposed and closely monitored by Canterbury Housing Advice Centre (CHAC) kept Fred from losing his home after he failed to keep to any previous arrangements made with Canterbury City Council for paying off rent arrears.
Fred was a secure Council tenant who worked part-time. He lived with his adult daughter (who was not working or claiming benefits) and had accrued rent arrears in excess of £1,000 when the Council served him with a Notice of Seeking Possession. The Council had lost confidence in Fred’s ability to keep to any repayment plan and planned to evict him.
How CHAC helped
Thanks to the positive working relationship that CHAC has established with Canterbury City Council’s Housing Department over time, we were able to propose a repayment plan that overcame the Council’s lack of confidence in Fred.
We advised the Council that Fred would pay £53 towards his rent arrears each month and that we would monitor him closely to ensure he kept to the arrangement. The Council agreed but stressed that any further default by Fred would result in an application to the court for an eviction order.
The outcome
Fred was in receipt of Universal Credit (UC) but his monthly payments fluctuated according to the hours he worked, making it more challenging for him to pay off his arrears. As we could see what Fred’s monthly UC payments would be a few days before he was paid, we were able to advise him how much he needed to pay to cover his rent as well as the £53 contribution towards his arrears. Thanks to this close support, Fred has continued to pay the required amount each month.
As part of our negotiations with the Council we also said we would make an application to the Council’s Household Support Fund for a grant of up to £500 to reduce Fred’s rent arrears.
In view of the support we provided – and on condition that Fred continues to pay £53 towards his rent arrears each month - Canterbury City Council agreed not to apply to the court to evict Fred.