Your rent

We offer a number of different ways to pay:

Direct Debit

Direct Debit is the easiest and most convenient way to pay your rent. You don’t have to worry about checking that your payments have gone through, because Direct Debit is paid automatically. We'll also adjust your Direct Debit for you if there are any changes to your rent amount.

If you pay by Direct Debit, you must have enough money in your account to meet the payments and avoid bank charges. You must also check your statements to make sure that the payments are being made. The usual Direct Debit Guarantee applies. Find out more about Direct Debits and the Direct Debit Guarantee.

Another great advantage to Direct Debit is that it puts you in charge of what day your money is taken out of your account. Money can be taken from your account on any day you choose. Call us on 01494 476100 to set up a Direct Debit or to find out more.

You can set up your own Direct Debit by using these forms:

• Direct Debit form - homes
• Direct Debit form - garages
• Direct Debit form - service charges

Online

You can use this form to pay your rent quickly and easily online.

Over the phone

Call 03300 416 497 with your allpay and debit or credit card at the ready. This is an automated service, but this is not a premium rate number, standard call rates apply.

The allpay app

You can pay anytime, anywhere with the allpay app, available to download from the Apple Store and Google Play – this app lets you pay your rent securely through your mobile.

Payment card

You can pay your rent at any post office or PayPoint outlet using your Red Kite payment card. Just hand your card to the cashier and say how much you want to pay. You can pay by cash, cheque, debit card or postal order.

The cashier will swipe the card through an electronic reader and enter the amount being paid. The computer will print a receipt with the date, rent account number, the amount paid and details of the post office or PayPoint outlet. There are no bank charges, although some PayPoint outlets only accept cash payments.

Standing order

Standing order payments are similar to Direct Debits, except that we cannot change the amount paid if the rent changes. That is your responsibility, although we can help you with it.

Standing order payments must be made in advance and most banks will allow weekly, fortnightly or monthly payments. As with Direct Debits, you must have enough money in your account when the payments are due to go out, and you must check your statements to make sure payments have been made successfully.

To set up a standing order, you need to send a standing order mandate form to your bank with the details of your payment. Call us on 01494 476 100 and we can provide you with a standing order form.

Your rent is due weekly in advance on a Monday. We also accept payment fortnightly or monthly if agreed. If a fortnightly or monthly arrangement is agreed the rent must still be covered in advance. Rent reviews usually take place each April.

We will send a ‘Notice of Variation’ letter before a change can take effect. If your rent changes, you need to do the following:

• If you're claiming Housing Benefit, please let Buckinghamshire Council know about your rent change as soon as you receive it.
• If you pay via standing order, please amend the amount you pay with your bank. (Your tenant reference number must be present on your payment details.)
• If you pay via Direct Debit, we'll amend the payment amount for you and let you know in writing 12 days before the first revised payment is due to be taken.

You could lose your home if you don't keep up your rent payments. If you fall behind on your payments, we will:

• Contact you to find out what the problem is
• Agree with you a repayment plan that you can afford
• Offer advice about benefits
• Refer you to our Financial Wellbeing Specialist

If you need help with paying your rent, there are a number of ways we can help you - we have our own Financial Wellbeing Team and advice team who will be more than happy to help you through any difficulties you may be having. Find out more about the support they can offer you.

We know that some people are experiencing uncertainty around their income and paying their bills at the moment. Supporting tenants through this difficult time is our priority, and the last thing we want is for anyone to be worrying unnecessarily. If you're having difficulties with paying your rent, we're here to help.

• Find out more about the financial support we offer

As a registered provider of social housing we must set rents in accordance with the government’s policy statement on rents for social housing issued by the Regulator of Social Housing.

The Rent Standard that is issued by the Regulator sets out the parameters within which we can set our rents. Government policy in relation to social and affordable rents has set the rent increase at September 2023's Consumer Prices Index (CPI) figure of 6.7% plus an additional 1%.

Therefore your rent will be increasing by 7.7% in the 2024/25 financial year.

Our core income is from the rent our tenants pay us for their homes. Our costs have increased, and so we need to increase our rents so we can continue to invest in your homes and provide you with quality services.

We know that the current pressures - the increase in the cost of living, high energy bills, and increasing food costs - are challenging for a lot of households.

We continue to support and signpost our tenants who are financially vulnerable by working with our partner organisations to help them access funding and support provided by the local council and the government.

We also partner with StepChange who are debt advice experts and can help with specialist debt and money budgeting advice.

Our teams have helped many of our tenants that are financially vulnerable with either advice or referral to support organisations: if you're worried about paying your rent please contact us so we can help.

Weekly rents are paid on a Monday, and there will be 53 Mondays in the 2024/25 financial year, which runs from 1st April 2024 until 6th April 2025 inclusive. 31st March 2025 is a Monday, so rent will be due on that day

A standard year is 365 days long, which equals 52 weeks and one day.
A leap year, such as 2024, is 366 days long, which equals 52 weeks and two days.

These 'extra' days are accumulated, and every five or six years they are added to the financial year as an extra week.

No, Universal Credit have confirmed that they won’t pay the rent for the 53rd week of the 2024/25 financial year. This means that if you are paying monthly, you’ll need to pay a little extra each month to cover the 53rd week.

As there are 53 weeks in the 2024/25 financial year, to work out your monthly rent you multiply your weekly rent by 53, then divide by 12.

Yes, you can still pay your rent monthly.

If you are paying 12 equal payments a year, your new monthly payment will be:

Weekly rent x 53 weeks* ÷ 12

* the 2024/25 financial year is a 53-week year.

If you receive Housing Benefit payments directly, you must advise the local authority of the change in charges, and supply a copy of the letter we have sent you as evidence.

If you receive Universal Credit, you must advise the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) of the change in charges, and supply a copy of the letter we have sent you as evidence.

Changes to Universal Credit should be notified through your journal between 1st and 5th April 2024. If you do not notify DWP of the change during this period it may affect how much Universal Credit you receive. Please do not report changes before 1st April.

You can report your rent changes by either:

• signing into your Universal Credit account if you have one, or
• calling the Universal Credit helpline (0800 328 9344) if you don’t have an account.

Our priority is to support our tenants to sustain their tenancies, and we want to help prevent rent arrears where possible.

Our Relationship Specialist and Tenancy Sustainment teams are trained to ensure you get the most out of your income and benefits, to help you manage your finances, and to support you through any changes in circumstances. Their services are friendly, free and confidential.

Please get in touch with us as early as possible if you need help to pay your rent. Alternatively, there is advice and support available from your local Citizens Advice.

You do not need to take any action. We will continue to collect your rent using your Direct Debit (and any other arrangement you may already have in place) which will be adjusted to your new rent.

You will need to instruct your bank to change your standing order. If your bank sets up a new standing order (instead of amending the existing one) please make sure they close the old one.

Your service charges have increased by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) + 1%. This means your service charge has increased by 7.7%, in line with current government guidance.

The service charge is based on the cost of the services we provide that are not included in your rent, such as the cleaning and maintenance of communal areas, replacement of scheme assets, and other scheme-specific services. Your schedule of services describes in detail the services we provide to your scheme.

Fixed service charge is where we set the cost of providing services to a home at the beginning of each financial year. You pay the service charge throughout the year, and at no point will there be additional amounts to pay or refunds due.

Eligible and Ineligible Service Charge refer to whether or not a service charge can be paid for through benefits on behalf of the tenant(s). Where personal charges are provided these will be deemed ineligible for government benefit support.

For a statutory definition of a Service Charge, see section 18 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985.