About rents, service charges and how to pay - Plymouth Community ...

Frequently asked questions – 

About rents, service charges and how to pay

How to pay 

How is my rent charged? 

Your rent is charged on a weekly 

basis and is due weekly in advance. 

If you choose to pay fortnightly, your 

payment will need to be for the 

current week and week following. You 

can also pay monthly in advance. 

We check your account at the end 

of each week. 

Your account will need to be kept up 

to date however you choose to pay. 

How can I pay my rent? 

We are always looking for ways to 

improve our services and offer you 

better value for money. So when you 

told us that you want to see your 

housing officers spending a lot more 

of their time out and about in your 

neighbourhood we looked at how we 

could free up some of their time. We 

found that taking cash and cheque 

payments means that they have less 

time to spend getting out on your 

estates to meet tenants and leaseholders 

face-to-face. So we are 

making changes and from the 1st 

April 2011 we will no longer be taking 

cash and cheque payments over 

the counter at any of our offices. 

Because our four part-time sub 

offices at Efford, Ernesettle, 

Honicknowle and Southway are used 

very little apart from taking a small 

number of cash payments, these 

offices will close at the end of April 

2011. This will release more staff time 

for work in your neighbourhood. 

You can still make your rent 

payments in cash if you choose and 

there are a number of other ways 

that you can pay: 

• By Direct Debit 

Direct Debit is a safe and easy 

way to pay. If you set up a Direct 

Debit then you are protected by 

the Direct Debit Guarantee. You 

can pay weekly, fortnightly, four 

weekly or monthly on any date you 

choose. These payments should 

be made in advance in line with 

the terms of your tenancy 

agreement. (Plymouth Community 

Homes is offering an incentive if 

you choose this option – See “How 

do I set up a Direct Debit?”.) 

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• Using a debit or credit card 

You can pay over the telephone, 

24 hours a day, every day, by 

telephoning 0844 5578321. This 

service is operated by “Allpay” 

and you will need to tell the 

operator the 19 digit number that 

appears across the middle of 

your payment card. 

• Standing Order 

You can set up a standing order 

by contacting your bank. However, 

people that pay by standing order 

will not benefit from the direct debit 

incentive scheme. 

• Online 

You can pay on-line at the 

Plymouth Community Homesʼ 

website. Just click on ʻpay your 

rentʼ and you will be directed to 

the ʻallpayʼ payment site 

https://www.allpayments.net/ 

allpayments/. You will need to enter 

the 19 digit number that appears 

across the middle of your payment 

card. 

• In cash 

You can make a 

free cash payment 

at any outlet 

displaying the 

PayPoint sign. 

You will need your 

payment card with you. 

• By cash or cheque 

You can pay by cash or cheque 

at any Post Office. You will need 

your payment card with you. 

How will I know you have 

received my payments? 

Statements are sent out four times 

a year showing your payments, 

charges and account balance; 

however an interim statement can 

be provided on request from your 

local housing office. You can also get 

an account balance over the phone 

by calling your local housing office. 

What if I lose my payment card? 

You can request a new payment 

card by contacting your local housing 

office. 

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How do I set up a Direct Debit? 

• We can set up your Direct Debit 

over the telephone – just contact 

your local office. Contact numbers 

are listed at the back of this 

booklet. 

• If you would like to set up your 

Direct Debit by completing a form 

rather than over the phone you can 

obtain a mandate form from any 

local housing office. 

• You can set up your Direct Debit to 

pay your rent and service charges 

– weekly, fortnightly, four weekly, 

or monthly on any date(s) you 

choose. 

• If you sign up to pay by Direct 

Debit before September 2011 you 

will receive a £10 voucher and if 

you keep your Direct Debit 

payments going for 12 months you 

will receive a second voucher for 

£40. If you sign up after the 1st 

September the second voucher 

will be reduced to £20. 

Why are we offering an incentive 

to sign up to Direct Debit? 

Direct Debits are the most efficient 

way for you to pay your rent and 

service charges. It is also the safest 

and most cost effective method for 

Plymouth Community Homes to take 

payments. The efficiency gains from 

not handling cash can then be 

reinvested into the services we can 

offer to our tenants. This incentive 

also applies if you change your 

payment from standing order to 

direct debit. 

Iʼm an existing direct debit 

customer. Will I get a voucher? 

As an existing Direct Debit 

customer you will also receive our 

Direct Debit incentives. As long as 

your direct debit continues you will 

receive your vouchers automatically 

– you do not need to do anything. 

Your Direct Debit will now be 

administered by “Allpay” and they 

will write to you to confirm this. You 

do not need to complete a new 

Direct Debit mandate unless you 

wish to change the date of your 

Direct Debit payment. 

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Rent 

How is my rent 

calculated? 

The rent you pay is a 

payment for your home. 

The amount of rent you 

pay is based on a 

government formula 

which will gradually 

move your rent towards 

a “target rent” for your 

property. This means 

that by 2016 you will be 

paying broadly the same 

amount for the same 

type of property (number 

of bedrooms, location) 

as other social housing 

properties in the area. 

The “target rent” for 

your property is shown 

in the letter you 

received with this 

booklet. 

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How do we work out the target 

rent? 

Every individual property that we rent 

out has a ʻtarget rentʼ, which is 

worked out using a formula. The rules 

say that all properties must reach this 

ʻtarget rentʼ by 2016. Some rents will 

have to go up to reach this target, 

some will have to go down. 

The formula factors that we take into 

account in the calculation of target 

rents are shown here: 

• The average wage in Devon 

(1999) 

We compare the average wage in 

Devon of £278 per week with the 

national average wage £316.40, 

using information given to us by 

the Government (using wages for 

the year 1999). 

• The national average rent 

For the housing association sector 

in 2011/12 this is £81.61 per week 

based on a 50 week rent year. 

• The number of bedrooms in 

your home 

The more bedrooms in your home, 

the higher your rent will be. 

No of Bedrooms Weighting 

Bedsits 0.8 

1 0.9 

2 1 

3 1.1 

4 1.2 

5 1.3 

6+ 1.4 

• How much your home is worth 

(1999) 

We compare the value of your 

home with the value of the average 

housing association property in 

the country. Property values were 

based on the value of the property, 

but at January 1999 values to 

ensure consistency. 

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The target rent calculation is as 

follows: 

Property element + 

(30% of the average rent 

for the Housing Association 

Sector x relative property 

value) 

Earnings element 

(70% of the average rent 

for the Housing Association 

Sector x relative county 

earnings x bedroom weight) 

= Target rent 

Example 

An association 3 bedroom property 

valued at £27,000 back in 1999 

would have now have its target rent 

calculated as follows: 

Property element 

30% of sector-average rent: 

30% x £81.61 £24.48 

multiplied by relative property value 

£27,000 / £49,750 x 0.54 

sub-total £13.22 

Add together the two sub-totals 

Property element £13.22 

Earnings element + £55.30 

Target rent 2011/12 £68.52 

This means that by 2016 you will be 

paying broadly the same amount for 

the same type of property, number 

of bedrooms and location as other 

social housing properties in the area. 

Earnings element 

70% of sector-average rent: 

70% x £81.61 £57.13 

multiplied by relative county 

earnings £278.00 / £316.40 x 0.88 

multiplied by bedroom 

weight for a 3 bed house x 1.1 

sub-total £55.30 

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Will my rent go up suddenly by a 

large amount? 

Because the changes are being 

made over a period of at least 16 

years, any rent change (up or down) 

should be gradual. To make sure 

tenants donʼt face large increases, 

government policy states that in any 

one year, a tenantʼs weekly rent 

cannot go up by more than the retail 

price index (RPI) plus 0.5%, plus £2. 

After target rents have been reached 

in 2016, rents will then only increase 

by RPI + 0.5%, which follows current 

Government policy. 

What if my rent needs to go 

down? 

If your rent is above the level it needs 

to be, it wonʼt drop to the new level 

immediately. Your rent will either fall 

slowly, or go up by less than the 

rate of inflation, so that Plymouth 

Community Homes can keep 

providing a good level of service. 

What if my rent is at target rent? 

Where a property has been let at 

the target rent, annual increases will 

be limited to no more than the annual 

Retail Price Index plus 0.5%. 

Will new tenants pay target rent 

from the start of the tenancy? 

New tenants pay the target rent for 

their home from the start of their 

tenancy plus any applicable service 

charge. New tenants are those who 

became tenants of Plymouth 

Community Homes after the transfer. 

(Note, this excludes new properties 

developed as part of the future 

redevelopment of North Prospect 

where different arrangements are in 

place). 

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When are the rent free weeks? 

We ask you to pay your rent for the 

whole year over 50 weeks rather 

than 52. The “rent free weeks” will 

be the weeks starting the 4th April 

and 26th December 2011. 

If you are in arrears of rent, have a 

court order, or another arrangement 

to clear arrears, you will still be 

expected to make payments during 

these weeks. 

If you pay your rent by direct debit 

monthly then the rent for the year is 

paid in 12 equal instalments. The 

amount you pay for the full year will 

be the same as paying by other 

payment methods. 

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How do I apply for Housing 

Benefit? 

If you have a low income and do not 

get any help to pay your rent at 

present, you may be entitled to 

Housing Benefit. You can get an 

application form from any Housing 

Office or from the City Council 

Housing Benefit Office in the Civic 

Centre. 

Even if you have applied for help to 

pay your rent before, but did not 

qualify for Housing Benefit, it is 

worthwhile applying again. 

What if I fall behind with my rent 

or service charges? 

If you are having difficulty in paying 

your rent, please contact your 

Housing Officer as soon as possible. 

Do not ignore it. The problem will 

only become worse. Our staff will do 

their best to help you and provide 

advice. 

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT NOT TO 

IGNORE LETTERS SENT TO 

YOU. 

If you wish to make a claim, you will 

need to provide proof of your identity, 

income and savings – you can bring 

this, with your application, to your 

local housing office for checking. 

I am receiving housing benefit, 

do I need to reapply? 

IF YOU RECEIVE HOUSING 

BENEFIT NOW, YOU DO NOT 

NEED TO REAPPLY. 

You will receive a letter from the 

Benefits Service that will give details 

of your new benefit entitlement. If 

you need to pay they will tell you the 

revised amount you should pay each 

week. 

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Service Charges 

What is a service charge? 

A service charge is a charge we 

make for services we provide to your 

block or to your home that is not 

covered by the rent. It covers 

communal services and in some 

cases individual services such as 

heating and hot water. 

What is a support charge? 

A support charge is for anyone living 

in sheltered accommodation or a 

bungalow with an emergency callout 

alarm fitted. This is a service to 

older and disabled tenants who may 

need support to maintain their 

tenancy. If you are eligible for 

Housing Benefit for your rent the 

charge should be covered by the 

Councilʼs Supporting People funding. 

Your rent letter will make this clear if 

this is the case, if not then you will 

need to pay the charge. 

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What are variable service charges 

and how do they work? 

Up until now service charges have 

been fixed, meaning that you paid a 

set charge for the year which simply 

increased year on year, with inflation. 

Sometimes this meant that you 

could have been overcharged and 

sometimes undercharged. But there 

was never any adjustment made to 

make sure you only paid for the 

actual cost for the service. 

Plymouth Community Homes now 

operates a variable service charge 

system; this means we will only 

charge you an amount to cover the 

full cost of services you receive. 

For more information please refer to 

the Service Charge Leaflet within 

your Tenants Handbook. 

The Service Charge leaflet in the 

Tenants Handbook talks about 

the look-back period being 

between October to the following 

September, but I can see on my 

service charge statement that its 

only 6 months from April 2010 to 

September 2010, why is this? 

We only introduced variable 

charges from April 2010 so for this 

year only we are only looking back 

at the first 6 months to see what the 

service cost. From next year (Oct 

2010 – Sept 2011) the look-back 

period will be a full 12 months and 

then always 12 months. 

How do I know what my Housing 

Benefit allowance will cover? 

Communal services are covered by 

Housing Benefit. These are any 

services that are available within the 

block once you step out of your front 

door. Individual services are not 

covered by Housing Benefit. These 

are services such as hot water and 

heating that you have within your 

home. 

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What is communal? 

All services you receive in the 

shared areas of the block – once 

you step out of your front door. 

What is individual? 

All services you receive in your 

home – once you shut your front 

door. 

Communal charges 

can include: 

• Caretaking 

• Cleaning of communal areas 

• Laundries 

• Door entry 

• CCTV 

• Fire alarms 

• Grounds and gardens 

• Heating and lighting in 

communal areas 

• Communal TV aerials 

• Plant and specialist equipment 

• Others may apply 

Housing Benefit covers 

these if you are eligible 

Charges for services to some 

individual homes include: 

• Heating and hot water 

• Lighting and water charges 

within your dwelling 

• TV licences 

• Individual garden maintenance 

• Others may apply 

Housing Benefit does not 

cover these 

Our commitment to you: 

We aim to provide services in the most reasonable and cost-effective way 

and to a standard acceptable to you, our residents. We are moving towards a 

fairer charge, which would reflect the real costs of providing the services. 

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Why am I being charged for a 

service when I wasnʼt before? 

We have reviewed all the services 

that we are providing and checked 

whether they are covered by the rent 

or whether there should be a service 

charge. There are a small number 

of services which should now be 

charged as a service charge, these 

services have always been provided 

but we have not charged you 

separately for them, meaning all 

tenants paid towards them. Now we 

have put this right and made it fair to 

everyone by passing the cost only 

onto those that receive the service. 

I can see from my rent letter that 

there is an affordability cap 

adjustment, what is this? 

We have reviewed the cost of all 

our services and this meant that in 

some cases the overall cost is a lot 

higher that you were paying before, 

this is because the cost of services 

was not fully reviewed by the Council 

for a number of years. 

Now we have now properly looked at 

the current costs we have updated 

the service charges. The board of 

Plymouth Community Homes 

recognises that any increase is 

difficult for tenants and has therefore 

decided to phase in any increase up 

to the full cost of service over a 

number of years for current tenants 

to keep it affordable. During this time 

we will give you a reduction on the 

overall service charge. We call this 

the affordability cap. 

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So how does the affordability cap 

work? 

We have worked out a charge to 

make it affordable and have reduced 

(capped) the total service charge so 

it does not exceed this amount. The 

caps are explained below. 

Why do new tenants from April 

2011 pay more? 

New tenants will be told what the 

full service charge is before taking 

up their tenancy; they then have a 

choice about whether or not to take 

up the tenancy. 

• Caretaking service 

We have capped the charge so it 

does not rise by more than 10% 

from the current charge. This 

continues the decision taken by 

the Council 3 years ago to phase 

in the increased cost of the 

Caretaking Service over a 4 year 

period. 

• All other services 

We have capped the charge so it 

does not rise by more than 

inflation (using the Retail Price 

Index which is currently 4.6%) + 

0.5% + 50p. 

The cap does not apply to any new 

tenants of Plymouth Community 

Homes, who start their tenancy 

from April 2011, as they will pay the 

full cost of the service. 

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What is a management and 

administration charge? 

There is a cost in running and 

managing the services provided to 

your block. In the past these costs 

have not been passed on to service 

charge payers but have been met by 

all tenants from the rent. In future 

these costs will need to be met by 

tenants who receive the services. 

The charge covers the administration 

needed to manage all the services, 

such as calculating the charges and 

adjustments, managing the 

contracts, making payments to our 

providers, providing information and 

consulting with residents. It is 

charged at 13p per week per service. 

It is based on the number of services 

you receive but will not exceed 15% 

of the total cost of service charges. 

I am in a block but I know 

someone in another block who 

pays a different amount for the 

same service, why is this? 

Each block, however similar, will 

have costs that can vary or have a 

different number of flats. For 

example one block may have more 

flats than another so the costs are 

spread amongst more residents; 

this makes the cost per resident 

lower. Some services may vary 

between blocks such as the area of 

grounds to be maintained or the 

time taken to clean the courtyard 

because of the size. 

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I am on the ground floor. Why 

should I pay for a lift? 

The lift is one of the services 

everyone in the block has access to. 

Whether you choose to use it or not 

it is accepted that all residents should 

share the cost of communal services. 

I donʼt use the laundry. Why 

should I pay for it? 

The laundry is available to all tenants 

in the block(s) as a communal 

service so whether you choose to 

use it or not it is a service you share 

and pay towards. 

The door entry system on our 

block is vandalised a lot. Why 

should I pay towards this? 

If it is out of action for long periods 

you will not be charged for these 

periods. You will need to report this 

to our repairs section so we can 

take action and record this. Repairs 

freephone number is 08082 306500. 

I cannot see that our windows 

are cleaned or our grounds are 

maintained. Why should I pay? 

The contractors we use may come 

at times that you are away from 

your home so you may not see the 

service provided. We do require 

contractors to inform the caretaker or 

a resident that the service has been 

provided so this can be checked. We 

will not charge you if the service has 

not been provided. If you still feel the 

service has not been provided but 

you have been charged we will 

investigate and if this proves to be 

the case then we will reduce your 

charge. 

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Will I get a refund if I am owed 

money for the period April 2010 

to September 2010? 

Any money owed to you will be taken 

into account by reducing your service 

charge starting in April 2011. 

Why do you send out 

complicated statements? 

By law if we charge you a variable 

service charge we have to make an 

adjustment when we know the actual 

cost of the services. We want to be 

open and transparent with you about 

these costs and the adjustment. We 

have consulted with a sample of 

tenants about the layout of the new 

statement. 

Also the Government may in future 

make us issue you with a formal 

statement so we felt it is better to 

start this as soon as we introduced 

the variable service charges. We 

have tried to keep this information as 

simple as possible but if you have 

questions then please contact us. 

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Contacting Us 


Head Office 

Princess Court 

23 Princess Street 

Plymouth 

PL1 2EX Tel: 0800 012 1474 

Whitleigh Housing Office 

101 Whitleigh Green 

Whitleigh 


PL5 4DE Tel: 0800 917 9498 

North Prospect Housing Office 

91-93 North Prospect Road 

North Prospect 


PL2 2NA Tel: 0800 917 9499 

Estover Housing Office 

Leypark Walk 

Estover 


PL6 8UE Tel: 0800 917 9496 

Devonport Housing Office 

10-12 Granby Way 

Devonport 


PL1 4AB Tel: 0800 917 9497 

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Princess Court 

23 Princess Street 

Plymouth PL1 2EX 

Telephone: 0800 694 3101 

Email: info@plymouthcommunityhomes.co.uk 

Web: www.plymouthcommunityhomes.co.uk 

Registered Office: Ground Floor, Princess Court, 

23 Princess Street, Plymouth, PL1 2EX 

Charitable Industrial and Provident Society Registration No: 30637R

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