Handbook contents

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The money you pay to us each month covers the cost of:

• Rent — to allow you to use your home
• A service charge - to pay for services (in some cases including electricity), facilities and areas outside your home (nb these charges will vary, depending on the type of property you rent)
• Furniture provision
• Water supply and sewerage
• Electricity used in the last month (separately billed in some properties)

Paying your rent
You should pay your rent at the office by cheque, debit card or credit card (2% will be added for payments by credit card) in the first week of each month. If you cannot call into the office you can post a cheque (but not cash) through the office letterbox. Please write your address on the back so that we know which flat the rent is for. When we get your payment we will give you a receipt. The receipt will show the balance on your account including that payment. Please check that you agree with this balance and let us know if you think it is wrong. You should keep the receipts safely in your tenants’ folder because they are your only proof of payment. For April 2008, all rent,electricity and car parking charges will be by direct debit only.

How we set your rent
How much rent you pay depends on how much we need to manage and maintain the property. Out of that, we have to put aside a reasonable amount to pay for any future repairs that may be needed and for regular interior decorating. A small part of your rent goes towards upkeep of floor coverings and furniture. In addition, because we need to borrow money to pay for building our homes in the first place, the rent includes a sum that will help us pay back these loans.

Many of you are getting by on low incomes so it is our policy to keep our rents as low as possible, but not so low that we cannot cover these costs. Any increases have to keep within the guidelines set by the government's agency, the Housing Corporation. At present this means we cannot put your rent up by any more than the inflation rate plus an extra half a per cent if you are a key worker. In the past the Board has agreed have to keep increases across all our stock the same regardless who lives there.

If you think your rent is too high you have the right to take this up with the independent Rent Assessment Committee. See 'The Shorthold Tenant’s Charter booklet in your tenants’ folder for details, or see us in the office. You can only do this in the first six months of your tenancy. The committee will compare your rent with what private landlords charge in this area. However, we would advise you that our rents are a lot lower than private landlords' rents.

Setting service charges
The full range of services you pay for are set out in schedule one of your tenancy agreement. It covers the cost of maintaining and cleaning common areas, and taking care of communal facilities like the gardens, chute rooms and the laundry. By law you can ask us to give you a summary of the costs we use to calculate the service charge. If you then wish to see the accounts we based our summary on, we would be happy to oblige. If you think that any one item in the service charge is unreasonable or the standard of service is not good enough, please take this up with us.

Raising rent and service charges
By law we have to give you four weeks' notice before putting up your rent or service charges. In practice it is our policy to increase both charges just once a year, on the 1st of January. Only in exceptional circumstances would we put up the rent or service charge at any other time and we would still keep to the guidelines and limits laid down by the law.

Charges for water
Thames Water Authority charges us to supply water to your home so we pay the rates on your behalf. A charge is included in your monthly rent to cover these costs. Water rates generally go up once a year, in April. When the water rates rise, this part of your rent will go up immediately. We do not have to give you four weeks' notice.

Electricity charges

Ducane Road properties and Vellacott House
Tenants in Vellacott House and the Ducane Road properties are billed each month for the actual amount of electricity used in each study room and flat where these are self contained homes. The electricity used in the common parts is counted as part of the rent.

Our staff will read your electricity meter each month then send you a bill for any electricity you have used. This is calculated according to a set price for each unit of electricity used and includes a basic charge for providing the service. This is the same each month and includes our fee for reading meters and preparing the bills. You can get a breakdown of electricity costs from the office.

Street properties
Tenants in these homes have electricity costs built into their rent

Furniture charges
A separate charge is made for providing and replacing furniture. This reflects the cost of buying and maintaining the furniture.

Difficulty paying your rent
If you think that you may not be able to pay your rent at the time it is due please call into the office to let us know as soon as possible. We work to a very tight budget so need to keep rent arrears to an absolute minimum. That said, we would try to be sympathetic if you were having financial difficulties.

We will also help in any way we can such as putting you in touch with agencies offering free financial advice, and by arranging for you to pay back any rent you owe in instalments. In some cases, you might be able to claim housing benefit. This is a payment made by the local council to help people on low incomes pay their rent. Unfortunately, many overseas students do not qualify for housing benefit but the rules are complicated so it is worth looking into. We have a leaflet explaining housing benefit in the office, which explains how it applies to students.

Rent debt leading to eviction
Eviction from your home is a last resort. However, if you have substantial rent arrears and fail to pay them back when we ask, or fail to keep to an agreement to pay off rent owed in instalments, we may have no choice. In this case we would go to court to get permission to evict you.