Paying your rent and service charges
Paying your rent and service charges is important. These payments must be kept up to date to keep your tenancy. If you are struggling, we are here to help you. Our aim is to do everything we can to support our tenants to sustain their tenancies, so you can feel safe and secure in your home.
How you can make payments
We want to make it as easy as possible for you to make payments.
Direct debit: Our preferred method of payment is direct debit. We can set that up for you and adjust it for you if you need to make a different monthly payment. Click here to download the Direct Debit mandate
Internet payment: You can pay here by internet transfer allpay - Internet Payments - Sign in (allpayments.net) to make a direct payment to us without speaking to Teachers’, easy! You will need a payment reference number from us. This is not the same as your Teachers’ tenancy reference number. If you don’t have that number, please contact us at enquiries@teachershousing.org.uk and we will ping it to you. You can re-use the number each time you want to pay.
24 hour automated payment line: If you ring 0330 041 6497, you can make a payment at any time, day or night. You will need a payment reference number from us. This is not the same as your Teachers’ tenancy reference number. Just contact us, and we will provide it to you. You can re-use the number each time you want to pay.
Please note that we do not accept paying in books, cash or cheques anymore.
Phone us at the office: If you have to speak to us, you can also ring us at the office and make a payment with us over the phone. We would encourage you to use one of the payment options above.
What we will do
We will send you a quarterly rent statement so that you can see your latest balance so you can make sure your account is up to date, query anything that you are uncertain of or set up a payment plan. If you are facing difficulties, speak to us, we can help you.
Housing benefit or universal credit
You might be eligible for housing related benefits. If you are in doubt, we recommend you apply. Your housing manager can support you if you are having any trouble claiming benefits. Remember, even if your benefit is paid directly to Teachers’ you are still responsible for your rent and that we receive the payments.
What is covered in my rent
The rent you pay includes the cost of management, maintenance, major repairs and renewals and improvements. Rent is increased once per year starting from the 1st of April. The rent increase we can charge you is regulated. That means we apply a fixed, prescribed calculation to your rent when we increase it each year.
Service charges
Most tenants also pay a service charge alongside their rent. At Teachers’ we have what is called a ‘variable’ service charge.
That means when we set the year’s budget, we must estimate how much the service charges will be for the year starting on the 1st of April.
We also look at the most recent financial year, where we have the actual figures of what the service charges were for that year. If it was more than we budget for (deficit) we will add it onto the new year’s service charge. If it was less than we budgeted for (credit), we will take that off the new year’s estimated charges.
Service charges can cover items such as communal cleaning, gardening and grounds maintenance. The exact items are listed in your service charge demand provided every year before the 1st of April, alongside your rent increase notice.
The rent you pay includes the cost of management, maintenance, major repairs and renewals and improvements. Most tenants also pay a service charge with their rent. Service charges are listed separately and cover communal items. Further information on service charges is available in the Tenants' Handbook. Rents and Service Charges are reviewed annually and tenants are given one months' notice of any changes.