Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector

Just under half of all cases in the dataset (49%)
involved tenants who had been subject to previous
court hearings for possession . This was somewhat
lower among Ground 8 cases at 40% .
Initiating intervention
Across the sample, as a whole, the average arrears
level at the point when NSPs were served was
£907 . It is interesting to relate this to the reported
practice of RSLs in usually initiating legal action at
an arrears level equivalent to six weeks rent . Given
that RSL rents averaged £70 per week in 2008
(CLG Housing Statistics 2008), this would imply
Table A1.7 – Tenants subject to eviction: average arrears
levels and period arrears present
a threshold of £420 (although, given the typically
higher rents in London, the implied threshold here
might be more in the region of £500) . Among
those eventually subject to eviction and included
in our sample, however, only eight out of 105 were
reported as having arrears below £420 when the
NSP was served . In fact, a quarter of all cases
were initiated at an arrears level of over £1,000 .
It seems possible that such instances may have
involved large amounts of debt suddenly appearing
on accounts due to HB overpayment recoveries .
Alternatively, HA staff do not, in practice, always
hold to stated policy here .
Average arrears level (£) Average no. of months arrears present…
When NSP
served
On date of
Hearing
…when NSP
served
…on date of
Hearing
Ground 8 cases 1,003 2,027 5 .4 14 .6
Ground 10/11 cases 814 1,778 11 .9 24 .6
Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector 119