Customer consultation on non-charge weeks

We’re writing to all customers to ask you three questions about the number of weeks that your rent payments are split into. Look out for the envelope, it’s marked with the wording… 

 

 Consultation about the rent week split
“Let us know your feedback” 

We’ll be asking customers three questions about non-charge weeks. The questions are part of a consultation, as we are thinking about changing the way your rent is charged from 48-weeks to 52-weeks. 

What is the difference between paying rent over 48-weeks or 52-weeks?

At the minute some customer’s tenancy agreements allow them to pay their yearly rent over 48 weeks. This gives them 4 weeks each year when they don’t make rent payments. These 4 weeks are usually 1 week in April, 1 week in August and 2 weeks over the Christmas period.  

The customers are still charged rent for those 4 weeks; they aren’t free. They pay more each week to make up for the 4 weeks where you’re not making a payment.  

Spreading the payments evenly over 52 weeks would lower the amount of rent paid each week, but would remove the four non-payment weeks. 

What is the reason for thinking of making this change?

  • Benefit payments: Many customers don’t get a real advantage from the non-payment weeks due to the way benefits are paid. 

  • Clarity: Non-payment weeks can be confusing—some customers mistakenly think they’re “free” weeks. 

  • Consistency: We want a simple process where all customers pay over the same number of weeks. 

Why are you asking customers?

We asked some of our involved customers for their thoughts on the payment weeks, and they gave their views on how they would feel about this change. Now we want feedback from other customers who have the option of paying their rent over 48-weeks.  

We want to know what the four non-payment weeks mean to customers. This consultation is a chance for customers to have their say and let us know how any changes would affect them. 

As changing the payment weeks would alter tenancy agreements, we must give affected customers a chance to tell us their views.  

How will this impact the amount of rent being paid?

Customers that pay their rent over 48-weeks’ pay a higher rent each week to allow for the non-charge weeks. 

The table below shows an example of what this could mean for a customer if we changed the number of payments from 48 weeks to 52 weeks from April 2025. 

This is just an example, but in this case, the customer could save £10 each week. 

 
Example 48 week rent payment  Example 52 week rent payment  Difference  
£135.00  £124.87  £10.13 

What happens next?

We are consulting with all customers that are affected by this change. We want to hear your views on how this change may affect your individual situation.  

These customers have 28 days to let us know their thoughts.   

The responses will help us make the final decision. We’ll let customers know the final decision before the annual rent change, which is due April 2025.  

What happens if customers don’t respond to the consultation?

If customers decide not to provide any feedback, we’ll assume that they’re happy with the proposed changes to move to paying your rent over 52 weeks .  

How to provide your feedback?

We are asking the affected customers 3 questions. These customers have been sent a letter in an env elope marked with the wording .  

Consultation about the rent week split
“Let us know your feedback”  

How long do customers have to respond to the consultation?

The closing date for the consultation is 27th December 2024.