Rent arrears prevention

If you fall into arrears with your rent to a private landlord you could end up losing your home.

Therefore it is important to talk to your landlord as early as possible to see if an arrangement can be reached whereby you pay off the arrears over a period of time.

More information and advice can be found on the Shelter website.

Find out your rights

Depending on your personal situation and tenure you may have rights of protection from illegal eviction which means that your lender or landlord must go through certain legal steps before a court can decide whether to evict you or not.

Your landlord or lender cannot harass you, change the locks, cut services (such as gas or electricity) or do anything else illegal in an attempt to force you out.

It is really important to get independent advice and find out what your rights are as soon as you become aware that you are being threatened with eviction.

Prevention is always better than the cure, so for instance, if you start to fall into rent or mortgage arrears then you should talk to your landlord or mortgage lender as early as possible.

If you can both negotiate a suitable solution to prevent your arrears building up this may prevent them from having to consider legal action.