Harrogate Borough Council
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Current & Former Tenancy & Garage Arrears
If for any reason you are unable to pay your rent (either on your property or garage) you should contact your Housing Officer immediately. It is an obligation of your tenancy that you pay the rent promptly and when it is due. The Council will be able to help only if you contact us immediately.
Most problems can be resolved quickly without the need for formal action but even if you plan to catch up in the following week, for example if you are going to be away on holiday on the day that you normally pay, you should still let your Housing Officer know.
When you contact your Housing Officer you will normally be asked to agree a suitable arrangement to catch up any missed payments. If your income has changed, your Housing Officer will also be able to give you advice about applying for benefits.
If you do not contact us or you fail to keep to any arrangements, the Council will take formal action against you as described below.
Formal Action
Notice of Seeking Possession
If you do not make and keep satisfactory arrangements to pay your arrears, the first step in legal action against your tenancy is a Notice of Seeking Possession. This Notice will state that the Council intends to take you to Court for an Order to repossess your home - in other words, to evict you. The Notice will give a date, at least 28 days ahead, after which you may be summoned to appear in Court where the Judge will consider your reasons for not paying your rent.
If you make and keep a satisfactory arrangement during the Notice period, the Council may agree not to take further action whilst you are keeping to the arrangement. However, once a Notice of Seeking Possession has been served it remains in force for twelve months and the Council can take the case to Court at any time during this period.
Evictions
If your case is taken to Court, the Council will normally ask for a Possession Order, postponed on payment of a weekly amount to reduce your arrears in addition to your normal rent. This means that, providing you keep to this Court Order, you cannot be evicted.
However, if you fail to keep to the Court Order, the Council can ask the Court for a date for possession and then for a Warrant of Possession to evict you from your home unless you have paid your debt in full to the Council. A County Court Bailiff will then attend on the day set by the Court and you will be evicted.
In exceptional cases, the Council may ask for a full Possession Order straight away and the Judge may give the Council possession of your home, with no conditions attached.
The Council does not take Court action against tenants lightly and we will always contact anyone falling into arrears in plenty of time to resolve the matter, without the need for legal action. Some tenants, however, persistently fail to make regular payments. In these cases, the Council will not hesitate to take Court Action if necessary.
It is important to stress again that if you are in any difficulty with your rent payments you must contact your Housing Officer immediately. If you have debt problems the Citizen's Advice Bureau may be able to advise you, but please always let the Council know of any decisions you have made. Problems are best dealt with as soon as they occur rather than waiting until the amount of arrears is so high that the Council has to take legal action against you. The Council will resort to eviction only if all attempts to help have failed and the tenant has regularly failed to pay their rent.