3.1 We will write to you at least four weeks before the beginning of each financial year (the first Monday in April) to tell you about your rent for that year. You can view information about your rent anytime when you sign up for My Account www.norwich.gov.uk/MyAccount.
3.2 Remember that your rent includes other charges as well as the basic rent (see paragraph 1.8). Some of those other charges may only be finalised shortly before the new financial year. At that stage we will notify you of the finalised figures and the weeks for which the rent is due. It is due each week except for the last two weeks of December (see paragraph 3.8).
3.3 When your tenancy begins, we will notify you of the rent for the current year and the weeks for which it is due.
3.4 If we need to review your rent during a financial year, we will give you four weeks’ notice of any changes to it.
3.5 You must pay your rent promptly. If you do not keep up with your payments your home is at risk of repossession.
If you are worried about money or debt, we have a specialist team of budgeting and money advisers. This is a free service. For advice, complete this referral form www.norwich.gov.uk/BudgetingAndMoneyAdvice.
3.6 We expect you to pay your rent by regular instalments using a direct debit. We will give you the details to set up a direct debit www.norwich.gov.uk/DirectDebitForm when your tenancy begins. If you do not pay by direct debit, it is your responsibility to make sure that your rent is paid for each week that it is due.
3.7 You may be entitled to help with your rent. We and/or the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) can give you information about this. It is your responsibility to apply for benefits and supply all the information needed for your application to be processed. You continue to have an obligation to pay your rent, whatever the situation is with your benefit application.
3.8 Rent is not due for the last two weeks of December. This makes no difference to how we calculate the total amount due over a full year. It does not affect the way we collect direct debit instalments over a full year. But because rent is not due for those two weeks, no Universal Credit or housing benefit is available for those weeks. And when your tenancy ends, there is no adjustment to your rent account to reflect the two rent-free weeks.
3.9 The general rule is that you cannot begin a new tenancy with us if you owe us money from another tenancy (for example, for rent arrears, damage to property or legal costs in connection with the tenancy). But there are exceptions to this rule, particularly if you have paid your current rent plus an affordable instalment off the debt consistently. If that is the case, you must continue to pay those instalments, as well as paying your current rent.
