Get help with your rent

Get help with your rent

If you are struggling to pay your rent, we may be able to assist you by:

• arranging a payment plan for you to catch up with any missing payments
• advising you of other help you might be entitled to 
• completing an income and expenditure form to help you better manage your money
• referring you to our Tenancy Support Service or Social Inclusion Team for further support such as budgeting or debt advice
• checking the status of your benefit claim
• asking for your housing costs to be paid directly to your rent account

If you do fall into arrears, you must contact us straight away to discuss the situation, we will also try to contact you.

Contact us

• Kettering area: [email protected]
• Corby area: [email protected]

Benefits and support

You may be able to apply for council tax support and housing benefit if you're on a low income. 

Make sure you apply for any other government benefits you may be entitled to and check the support we offer for cost of living.

Bedrooms

The amount of Housing Benefit or Housing Element you receive may be affected by the number of bedrooms your home has and the number of bedrooms it is deemed you need. 

Criteria 

The following are expected to share:

• an adult couple
• 2 children of the same sex and both under 16 years
• 2 children of any sex and both under 10 years

Exceptions 

The following are entitled to an extra bedroom;

• couple or children who cannot share due to a disability or medical condition
• an overnight carer (where the carer does not live with you but has to stay overnight)
• those over the age of 16 years
• a child who would normally have to share but all shared bedrooms are taken (for example you have 3 children and 2 are already sharing)

Reduction to your benefit 

If you are deemed to have more bedrooms than you need against the above criteria, the amount of benefit you receive will be reduced by:

Downsizing 

If you are affected, you could:

• apply for a discretionary housing payment (DHP) for short-term help
• take in a lodger (however this could lead to a further charge called a non-dependant deduction)
• downsize to a home with the correct number of bedrooms

Last updated 19 April 2023