Paying rent

View my rent account

What your rent pays for

Service Charges

How to pay your rent

Request Direct Debit form

Housing benefit

Direct payments

If you are having trouble paying your rent

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View your rent account @ my home online

Click here to login to/register for my home online, where you can view your rent account in the account section.

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What your rent pays for

Money that Riversmead receives from rental income is used to meet the costs of managing, maintaining, repairing and improving your home, as well as interest charges on money that has been borrowed. The aim is to set rents that are fair and affordable. Under Government rules rents are calculated using a formula made up of three elements : the market value of the property compared with the national average of Registered Social Landlord properties; local average earnings compared with national average earnings and the size of property depending on the number of bedrooms.

Your Tenancy Agreement shows how your weekly rent is made up. As well as the rent, it also shows other charges that you may have such as heating or service charges.

There is an annual rent review and any increases are applied each year. Your rent may also be reviewed throughout the year if you have major improvements made to your property. You will always be given four weeks notice of any changes to your rent.

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Service Charges

In April 2007 we separated your service charge from your rent.  The reasons for this were:

• to make us more accountable to you
• to enable you to see what you are paying for a service
• to enable you to influence the cost and standard of services you receive
• to meet the requirements of the Housing Corporation who are Riversmead’s regulatory body

Service charges are charges that relate directly to the block where you live and cover the specific cost of providing a service to your block, for example caretaking and landlords supply.

You can pay your service charge in the same way that you pay for your rent.

How Service charges are calculated

We aim to set our estimated service charges as accurately as possible to the actual cost for each block.  Riversmead are charging an estimated service charge which means that service charges are reviewed once a year and may increase or decrease based on the actual costs incurred.

To work out your service charge bill we will establish how many homes there are in your block.

For example

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How to pay your rent

Riversmead Housing Association tenants

Click here to pay your rent online

• You can pay online using your debit card (Visa, Visa Electron, Solo and Maestro) or credit card (Visa, Mastercard) by clicking on the link above.
• You will need your 19 digit reference number, which can be found on your rent payment swipe card.
• If you are using the system for the first time you may want to download the user guide

By telephone
You can pay over the phone with your debit or credit card (see above for those accepted) by calling 01992 514514. You will need your 19 digit reference number, which can be found on your rent payment swipe card.

You can pay your rent using your rent payment swipe card. The card will be ‘swiped’ through a machine and the payment taken, then a receipt will be given to you showing the amount you have paid, which can be used as a record of payment and checked against the regular statements that we send you.

By Direct Debit or Standing Order

If you have a bank account you can arrange to pay your rent by Direct Debit or bankers Standing Order. Please contact our Rent Accounting team for more details.

Stadium Housing Association tenants

You can pay using your All Pay card in the following ways:

• Click here to pay online with allpayments
  MasterCard, Visa, Delta, Switch and Solo cards are accepted.
• At any Post Office and at a wide range of local retail outlets
• By telephoning 0870 2436040 or 0870 7700472 (debit cards only)

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Request a Direct Debit form @ my home online

Click here to go to my home online, where you can request a Direct Debit form from the account or services section.

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Housing benefit

Local Authorities administer claims for housing benefit. You will normally qualify for housing benefit if you are on income support, state retirement pension or on a low income.

You will need to complete an application form, which is available from Riversmead’s offices or from your local Council.

For Housing Benefit advice and assistance in your area, please see below.

East Herts
Contact us on 01992 514514 for access to a fast track Citizens Advice Bureau appointment or contact the CAB direct on 08448 489700.

Biggleswade
Contact Biggleswade CAB on 01767 314961

South Oxhey and Leavesden
Contact South Oxhey CAB on 0208 4210911 or Leavesden CAB on 01923 234949

Milton Keynes
Contact Milton Keynes Shelter Housing Aid Centre on 08445 151876

Welwyn Garden City
Contact Welwyn & Hatfield CAB on 0845 1202944

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Direct payments

If you are getting Housing Benefit from the Council you can ask for this to be paid directly to us. Please talk to your Housing Officer who can help you arrange this. You would of course have to make arrangements to pay to the Association, your share of the rent if you do not receive housing benefit for all your rent. You must always remember that even if you have your housing benefit paid direct to us, you are always responsible for ensuring that you have made a proper claim for benefit and for renewing it when necessary. If difficulties arise with the payment of your benefit, it is your responsibility to sort it out. You Housing Officer will try to help you with the problem.

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If you are having trouble paying your rent

If you cannot pay your rent please let us know straight away so that help and advice can be given. Your Housing officer can make an arrangement with you to make regular repayments that you can afford, and also give advice, in strict confidence.

For help and advice, you can also contact the relevant Citizens Advice Bureaux / Shelter - please see contact details for your area under the Housing Benefit section above.

Continuing rent arrears, where repayments have not been agreed in advance, can result in action being taken through the courts to recover any sums outstanding, and in extreme cases, if this has no effect, action will be taken to repossess your home. Not only does this cause a great deal of worry to tenants but it also adds the cost of going to court onto the amount you owe.

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