CHAC prevents eviction of Council tenant with more than £10k in rent arrears
CHAC Case study
Sarah’s story
Sarah, a non-secure tenant who lived with her brother in a two-bedroom Canterbury City Council property, was facing eviction due to rent arrears exceeding £10,000.
Sarah was disabled and had previously been in care.
Although she is employed, Sarah’s wage is low and she was on Universal Credit (UC). She had not paid any rent since her tenancy began over two-and-a-half years ago and had rent arrears totalling more than £10,000.
Her brother also had serious physical and mental health problems.
The Council served a Notice on Sarah and applied to the court to evict both her and her brother and a date was set for her court hearing.
Sarah was advised to claim UC and came to CHAC for help.
How we helped Sarah…
We advised Sarah to start paying her rent in full. We also advised her to pay an additional £100 off her rent arrears every month.
We established how much Sarah was paid each month so that we could calculate how much UC she would receive. We were then able to tell Sarah how much she should pay to the Council each month to cover both her rent and the additional £100 towards her rent arrears.
We also helped Sarah to make an application to the Council for a Homelessness Prevention Grant to stop her and her brother from becoming homeless.
Once Sarah began receiving UC housing costs, we were able to help her apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) from the Council to help reduce her rent arrears. Sarah subsequently received a DHP as well as a Homelessness Prevention Grant from the Council.
The result…
This money cleared all of Sarah’s rent arrears and court costs. The Council withdrew their court application and the risk of eviction was lifted. Sarah was given a secure Council tenancy.
We continue to assist Sarah, whose wages remain variable, with advice on the amount of rent she has to pay in addition to her UC housing costs. This has meant that she continues to pay her rent to the Council in full every month.