Ways to pay your rent
A Direct Debit is a regular payment taken automatically from your bank account.
It is a simple way to pay your rent, as your payment is taken on the agreed date.
If you would like to set up or change a Direct Debit, please contact our Income Team.
You can use the My Home portal and app to manage your rent account and make payments online.
To use the portal, you first need to set up an account. Please contact our Income Team and they can send you a link to get started.
Once your account is set up, you can use the portal to:
- pay your rent
- view your rent account
- check your payments.
We are working to make the My Home portal easier to set up and use.
We no longer accept cash or card payments face to face.
If you need help making a payment or setting up another way to pay, please contact our Income Team.
If you need a payment key fob to make rent payments at a payment point, our Income Team can also help with this.
Worried about paying your rent?
We know there are different reasons why you may find it difficult to pay your rent.
If you are worried about making a payment, have missed a payment or need help understanding your rent account, please contact our Income Team. They can talk through your options and the support available.
They can:
- help you understand your rent account
- talk through your payments
- discuss an affordable repayment plan if you owe rent
- help with questions about Universal Credit or Housing Benefit
- refer you to our Money Advice Service if you need more support.
You can ask for help at any time
Universal Credit and Housing Benefit
You may be able to get help with your rent through Universal Credit or Housing Benefit.
If your benefit only covers part of your rent, you will need to pay the remaining amount.
If you are not sure what you are entitled to, or need help understanding your claim, please contact our Income Team. They can talk through your options and the support available.
Changes in your circumstances can affect how much benefit you receive.
This could include:
- starting or leaving a job
- a change to your income
- someone moving into or out of your home
- a child in your household turning 18.
You should tell the Department for Work and Pensions or your local council, as well as our Income Team, about any relevant changes.
If you are unsure whether a change needs to be reported, please ask us.
It is important to read and respond to any letters or messages about your Universal Credit or Housing Benefit claim.
If you do not understand something or are unsure what you need to do, please contact us. We can help you understand the next steps.
If your Universal Credit or Housing Benefit changes, stops or does not cover your full rent, you will still need to pay any rent that is due.
If this happens, please contact our Income Team. They can talk through your rent account with you and discuss what support may be available.
If you disagree with a decision about your Universal Credit or Housing Benefit, we may be able to refer you to our Money Advice Service or another advice organisation.
They may be able to help with things such as:
- understanding a decision
- asking for a decision to be looked at again
- making an appeal
- asking for benefit to be backdated where this is possible.
Sometimes there can be a short period where you have rent to pay on both your old and new home.
Depending on your circumstances and the benefit you receive, you may be able to get help with some or all of this cost.
This can apply in situations where:
- you could not reasonably avoid paying rent on both homes
- you or someone in your household is disabled and your new home needs adaptations before you can move in
- you have had to leave your home because of violence or abuse
- your household has been placed across two properties because of its size.
The rules are different for Housing Benefit and Universal Credit, so the support available will depend on your individual circumstances.
If you think this may apply to you, please contact your Housing Officer or Income Team. They can talk through your situation with you and help you understand what support may be available.
You are responsible for paying your rent from the date your tenancy starts, even if you move into your home at a later date.
If you are unsure about what you need to pay when your tenancy starts, please contact our Income Team.
Useful things to know about your rent and service charges
We review rents each year and look at a range of information before making any changes.
We aim to make sure rents are fair, affordable and support the cost of maintaining homes and providing services.
When we review rents, we look at things such as:
- Welsh Government rules on rent setting
- what tenants tell us about affordability
- the size and type of your homewhere your home is
- the type of tenancy you have
- the cost of maintaining homes and delivering services.
Our Board considers this information before agreeing any changes.
If your rent changes, we will write to you before the new amount starts. We will explain what your new rent will be and when the change will take effect.
You can find out more about how we set rent and how we consider affordability in the documents below.
If you are finding it difficult to keep up with your rent or service charges, please contact our Income Team.
They can:
- talk through your rent account with you
- agree an affordable repayment plan where appropriate
- help you understand any benefits that may help with your housing costs
- refer you to our Money Advice Service if you need more support
- help you find independent advice.
We know benefits and financial support can sometimes be difficult to understand. Our Income Team can help explain your options and what you may need to do next.
If you fall behind with payments, we will contact you and work with you to try to find a way forward. We will explain any action we may need to take and the support available to you.
You can find more information about what service charges are and how they are calculated on our Service charges page.
We will:
- contact you within the first six weeks of your tenancy to check that you have moved in and see if you need any help with your rent
- send you a rent statement every three months, showing the rent charged to your account and the payments you have made
- give you at least four weeks’ notice before any rent increase
- contact you if your rent account falls behind, using the most appropriate way to reach you
- help with questions about your rent, Universal Credit or Housing Benefit
- explain any action we may need to take if your rent account falls behind and we cannot agree a way forward.
