Paying rent on time is extremely important. Landlords rely on receiving the rent on time in order to pay the mortgage on the property, the related costs such as repairs and maintenance, and a lot of landlords rely on the rent as their main or only source of income.

If you fail to pay the rent on time, you create a lot of stress for the landlord and a lot of extra work for our agency. When you fail to pay the rent on time, it takes us an additional 10 to 15 minutes to reconcile payments to accounts, then an additional 15 to 30 minutes to contact you to explain the situation and all the consequences. It also causes us further work as we have to make special arrangements to pay the mortgage in the cases where tenants have not paid on time.

Each time a tenant does not pay their rent on time it causes at least 1 hour of additional work for us and requires the use of additional services and systems. Our reasonable costs for dealing with each case of late rent payment amount to at least £150 (our hourly rate) per late payment, however, these costs have been limited to just £40 + VAT when passed on to you, as per the terms of your tenancy agreement. So as you can tell, we would much rather our tenants just pay us on time, instead of paying late and incurring these costs.

If you are unsure of why you are in arrears, then please just reply to our email and ask for assistance. It will most likely be that your payment has not been received or that you have not accounted for your renewal rent properly.

Please read your tenancy agreement to see how to calculate your rent and to see what amounts are due when.

You can usually refer to the standing order form found within your tenancy agreement (usually the last page of the document) or your rent invoices, if we have provided these to you.

If you are having financial difficulties, the following support is available to you:

• Universal Credit
• Money Advice Service
• Discuss and Agree to a Payment Plan to catch up on Rent Arrears (just email us to start this discussion)
  
• NOTE: IF YOU IGNORE THE SITUATION, WE WILL HAVE TO REMOVE YOU FROM THE PROPERTY
  

Above all else, the most important thing is to maintain a dialogue with us so that we can keep your landlord informed. If you hide from us and do not discuss the issues with us, the problems will only get worse.

Consequences of failing to pay your rent on time:

• Damage to your relationship with the landlord
  • You will create great financial hardship for your landlord who doesn't have access to the same support that you might have access to (such as universal credit)
  • We won't be able to give you a good reference when you rent another property or apply for a mortgage
    
  • Only absolutely essential and legally required repairs and maintenance may be approved
• Damage to your credit rating, making it more difficult, more expensive, and in some cases impossible to obtain:
  • Loans or credit cards
    
  • A mortgage or renting another property
  • Insurance (such as car insurance or home insurance)
  • Some jobs or positions within a company
  • Regulatory approval for your industry (for example if you work in any industry or profession that requires you to be in good personal financial standing)
    

We encourage all tenants to always pay their rent on time. It is the right thing to do and will result in severe consequences if you fail to pay on time.