Rent arrears. What to do if you can't pay your rent

Your rights as a tenant

There are several different types of tenancy, and your rights will differ depending on your tenancy. The process to evict you will also differ.

Your tenancy type may depend on:

• When you moved into the property
• Whether you have a private landlord or a social landlord (a local authority or housing association)
• Whether you rent the whole property or just a part of it

In most cases, tenants of private landlords have less legal protection, and it can be harder to stop eviction.

Working out your tenancy type and what rights you and landlord have can be complicated. If you need help with this, you should seek advice from a specialist housing advice agency.

Most landlords will give you a written tenancy agreement. Even if you don’t have a tenancy agreement, you still have rights as a tenant and in most cases your landlord can’t evict you without a court’s permission.

How do I deal with rent arrears from a previous property?

In most cases, rent arrears from previous properties can be treated as a non-priority debt, unless the landlord has taken court action to recover the money.

This is because you can’t be evicted from a property because of rent arrears from a previous property – even if they’re both with the same landlord. You should always prioritise your current rent payments over arrears from a previous property.

But there are some cases where you may need to treat old rent arrears as a priority debt. For example, some local authorities won’t allow you to apply for council housing if you have outstanding arrears for a previous council house. This means you may need to clear the arrears quickly if you want to get rehoused.

Need debt help?

If you need help with your rent arrears or to work out how much you can afford to pay towards them, we can help. Use our online Debt Remedy tool which can help you put together a budget and offer practical advice on dealing with your debts.

Or, if you'd prefer, you can also call our Helpline and talk to one of our advisors (free from all landlines and mobiles).