Paying your rent

If you’re struggling to pay your rent, it is essential that you contact our income team immediately. For further information on the services and support the council offer, please visit the ‘Get help with the rising cost of living’ section on our website.

Contact us

To contact your income officer, you can:

Create an online account to book an appointment
Email: councilrents@croydon.gov.uk
Telephone:  020 8726 6100

Your rent

The rent you pay for your property goes towards managing and maintaining council homes, as well as investing in our communities and providing support our tenants. 

Your rent is due on a Monday and whether you choose to pay weekly ,fortnightly or monthly, it will need to be paid in advance. It is your responsibility to pay your rent whether you are working or in receipt of benefits. 

The consequences of getting into arrears on your rent account are serious. We will make every effort to contact you to discuss your arrears and try to make an agreement to help you keep your tenancy.  If we are unable to come to a reasonable agreement or if you do not keep to an agreement, we can refer your case to court. If the court decides to give us possession of your property, we may be able to evict you from your home.

Reasons not to get into arrears:

• if you are evicted from your home for rent arrears the council will not normally rehouse you
• you will be denied the right to buy in the future
• you may have trouble getting credits such as loans and hire purchase
• you will not normally be able to get a transfer or mutual exchange
• you will not be allowed to rent a parking space or garage, and if you already rent one, it will be taken away

What happens if you do not pay your rent

If you do not pay or contact us about your arrears, we will ask you to come for an interview. At the interview you will need to explain why you did not pay. We will look at what help you may need, for example by arranging payment in instalments.

If you do not pay your arrears or you fail to keep to your repayment arrangements we will start legal proceedings against you to recover the money you owe and you could be evicted. This means we will ask the court for an order to possess your home; if we evict you we will not re-house you and we will ask the court to recover the arrears of rent and the any legal costs

The following organisations can also give you debt management advice:

• Step Change Debt Charity
• Money Advice Service

If your home is too big for you

If you are unable to afford your rent as a result of under-occupying and wish to move to a smaller property:

• you will be paying lower rent
• you will be paying lower bills, such as council tax charges, gas and electricity
• a smaller home will be more manageable and need less housework
• you may wish to move to another area in the borough but have not been able to do so, due to the expense of moving

To find out more information see our grants for moving to a smaller home page.