Your rent
How much rent do I pay?
The rent is agreed with you at the beginning of the tenancy and is included in your tenancy agreement. The rent changes every year in the first week of April. You will receive a letter before the change comes into force and you must make an arrangement to pay the new amount from the date stated in the letter. You must always be a payment cycle (a week if you pay weekly or a month if you pay monthly) in credit otherwise we will contact you to ask you make extra payments.
Need a little extra help?
What more can Arawak Walton help me with?
We want to help make sure that you do not run into problems with your finances. If you are worried about your finances in any way, please contact your Housing Officer. Your Housing Officer can provide advice and guidance and can assist with assessing your benefits calculations. They can also direct you to other services that can help and we will partner with services from time to time that can provide you with more help with budgeting, lending or employment.
Benefits
Am I claiming the right benefits?
Rules around benefits often change, so we have set up a benefits calculator for you to check you are claiming the right amount. We will also keep you updated with changes in benefits through regular newsletters.
Social, Affordable and Submarket Rents
Arawak Walton offers social rent, affordable rent and submarket rent properties.
There are key differences between social and submarket rents and it is important that you understand which type of property you occupy/has been offered to you.
Social Rent
The building of social rent properties is partly funded by government grants, which means that their rents are significantly less than the market rent levels that are charged by private landlords.
Because of the way social rent properties are funded, the association does not control how social rents are calculated. These are set by government policy which means that they may increase or decrease, subject to the calculation we are required to use.
Affordable Rent
The building of affordable rent properties is partly funded by government grants, but their rents are calculated by charging 80% of the market rent levels that are charged by private landlords in the area.
Because of the way affordable rent properties are funded, the association does not control how these rents are calculated. These are set by government policy which means that they may increase or decrease, subject to the calculation we are required to use.
Submarket Rent
Submarket rent properties are bought by the association without any government grant, and we pay a full mortgage on them. We are a not for profit association and our aim is to provide an affordable option for people. We can still offer these properties at an affordable rent level - typically between 10% and 20% below what the private market can offer.
This means that although we do set the rents at an affordable level they are also higher than the social rent levels. To ensure submarket rents remain affordable we link the rent levels to the Consumer Prices Index.
Offering both social rent and submarket rent properties enables the association to offer more homes for rent and deliver affordability.
StepChange Debt Charity
StepChange has free, personalised debt advice available 24/7, day or night.
How StepChange can help you?
- You can get free, confidential and expert debt advice online or over the phone
- The will recommend the best debt solutions for your individual circumstances
- They will support you while you deal with your debt problems, for as long as you need our help
Read Jamie's story to see how StepChange helped him: https://bit.ly/2pexeCy