Pay now

 

The rent you pay helps us to provide good quality housing management and a repairs service to all of our contract holders. 

It’s a condition of your occupation contract and your responsibility to make sure that rent is paid regularly. If you’re unable to pay your rent at any point you should contact your local housing office as soon as possible.

How can I pay my rent?

You can pay your rent online, as well as by...

Direct Debit

You can pay with a monthly direct debit - payable on 1st or 16th of every month (this is the easiest way for you and us) or by weekly direct debit. You can contact your local housing office for details and forms.

Rent swipe card

You can also use a rent swipe card supplied by housing services to pay at PayPoint outlets, Post Offices and housing offices.

Payments made after Thursday won’t reach your rent account until the following week.

Phone

Call 0300 333 6500 and use the automated instructions to pay by credit or debit card. This is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In person

You can pay by debit or credit card at your local housing office, or with digital support at Contact Wrexham, based in Wrexham Library (LL11 1AU).

Payments made at these locations won’t reach your rent account until the next day.

If you are struggling/need support to pay your rent

Advice and information

We have a Financial Inclusion Officer at every local housing office, who work with contract holders to help them to maximise their income.

They can give budgeting advice, help you to apply for benefits you might be entitled to and signpost you to other agencies who may be able to help. They can also help you apply for grants to help you get goods such as a washing machine, fridge or cooker.

You can also contact the following advice agencies:

You can also find information on a range of topics on our help with the cost of living pages.

Universal Credit housing payment

You may be able to claim for Universal Credit (external link) to help you pay your rent.

Universal Credit doesn’t cover charges for water, heating, insurance or garage rental - but will cover certain service charges. If any of these charges are included in your set rent amount then you must pay those charges yourself. 

If you think that you might be eligible you can find out how to claim for Universal Credit online (external link).

Changes in your personal circumstances may affect the amount of rent you pay. You should let us know about any changes straight away to avoid back charges being added. If you claim Universal Credit it is your responsibility to update your journal.

It’s also your responsibility to make sure your claim is renewed quickly if it’s requested.

Other support with housing costs

If you are claiming for the Universal Credit housing payment and it does not cover all your rent you may also be able to claim for Discretionary Housing Payment.

You can also check our help with the cost of living pages for advice about living costs, including support you may be able to get with household bills.

What should I do if I cannot pay my rent?

We understand that people may find themselves in rent arrears (meaning when you owe rent) for all kinds of reasons. 

If for any reason you’re unable to keep up to date with your rent payments, don’t ignore the problem as it will only make things worse.

You should contact your local housing office straight away if you ever have problems paying your rent so we can advise and discuss this with you.

A housing officer will discuss the situation in a sensitive manner and help to identify the reason for non-payment. You‘ll then be expected to make an arrangement for the payment of arrears.

Whatever your reason for non-payment of rent, it’s important that you keep to your repayment arrangement once it’s made.

Your rent account is monitored weekly, and if you don’t keep to your arrangements to clear arrears, your housing officer will have to consider further action.

If you do not pay your rent

We will:

  • write to you, to tell you what you need to do
  • make every effort to contact you in person to discuss your arrears
  • try to reach a satisfactory agreement with you to repay your arrears and offer you advice and support with budgeting. 
  • as a last resort we will consider court action, including eviction to recover any outstanding rent. 

Remember that rent arrears could affect you in the following ways:

  • you could lose your home
  • if we take court action against you, you will be charged for the costs of the hearing as well as any outstanding arrears
  • we may not have legal duty to rehouse you in the future
  • we will not allow you to rent a garage  
  • it will affect your payment history and chances of getting forms of credit, such as a mortgage, bank loan or credit card. 

This is why it is important for you to contact your local housing office straight away if you ever have problems paying your rent, so we can advise you and help work out an arrangement for you to pay.

About your rent

How we set your rent

The rent setting system we use is based on Welsh Government guidelines. 

One rent amount is charged for each type of property. This is called the ‘target rent’.  

Transitional arrangements have been put in place for existing contract holders. These allow rents to move gradually towards target rent. This will help to reduce the financial impact on contract holders. It also means that we can continue to collect enough rent income to continue to repair and improve our housing. 

Will my rent change if I move to another property?

If you move to another property, we will set the rent as follows:

  • If the rent is below the target rent, it will be re-let  at the new target rent
  • If it is above the target rent, we will not reduce it but it will remain at the same level without an increase until the target rent catches up with it.

The rent year

Your rent is usually payable over 48 weeks, with each financial year beginning in April. There are 4 weeks each year when we do not charge rent but we do continue to collect rent arrears if applicable.  

Rent usually increases at the beginning of April each year and we will give you 2 months’ written notice of the rent increase. We will send you a statement of your rent account every 3 months, but you can ask for an up to date record of your rent at any time.