Paying your rent

Your rent amount is shown in your tenancy agreement and is due in advance every Monday if you have a weekly tenancy, or on the first of each month if you have a monthly tenancy. You must pay your rent and any service charges on time or you will risk losing your home.

You may need to pay a charge for services provided to you in your home or in the shared areas of your building or estate. Any service charges that you need to pay are shown in your tenancy agreement and are included in your total rent amount.

Paying by Direct Debit

The easiest way for you to pay your rent is by Direct Debit. You can set up a Direct Debit over the phone with our contact team or your income officer. Once it has been set up, your rent will be automatically paid from your bank account without you having to do anything. Your rent account will be credited on the same day that the payment leaves your bank account.

Direct Debits are easy to manage as you do not have to tell your bank if your rent or service charges change. They can also help you to budget your weekly and monthly expenses.

If you start to pay your rent by Direct Debit, we will automatically enter you into a quarterly draw to win £250.

Other ways to pay

You can also pay your rent:

• At a PayPoint or Payzone store using an Octavia swipe card with cash or a debit/credit card.
• By allpay - call 033 0041 6497 with your allpay reference number and debit/credit card. Allpay is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 
• By debit or credit card over the phone – call our customer contact team.
• By standing order: you can set this up at your bank with the following details - Sort Code: 40-06-09, Account 00724556, Bank Address: Octavia Housing, HSBC, 90 Baker Street, London, W1U 6AX. Please ensure that you include your tenancy reference number with the payment so our finance team can post the payment onto your rent account.
• By housing benefit – at present these payments are usually paid directly to us by the housing benefit office.
• By Universal Credit - under this system, payments will usually be made to you and you will need to make the payments to us.
• By cheque – write your address and tenancy number on the back of the cheque and post it to us.
• By bank transfer: you can set this up at your bank with the following details - Sort Code: 40-06-09, Account Number: 00724556, Account Name: Octavia Housing.  Please ensure that you include your tenancy reference number with the payment so our finance team can post the payment onto your rent account.
• For reoccurring car payments call our contact team on 020 8354 5500

Housing benefit

If you receive other benefits, work part-time, or have a low income then you may be able to claim housing benefit from your local council to help you pay all or some of your rent (if only part of your rent is paid by housing benefit, you are responsible for paying the difference). The rules about who can claim are complicated but your Octavia income account manager will be able to give you advice.

To claim housing benefit you need to complete a housing benefit claim form. Most councils will ask you to complete this online. You can also get a claim form from your local council housing benefit office.

You will need to inform the housing benefit office of any change in your circumstances (for example if your income changes, you start a job, or you have a child) and provide them with any paperwork about your claim on time.

Universal Credit 

Universal Credit is a benefit for people of working-age who are on a low income or unemployed. It combines six existing means-tested benefits including Housing Benefit. People on Universal Credit will receive a single monthly payment for their living and housing expenses. They will then have to make a payment to Octavia for their rent.

If you receive Universal Credit, it is your responsibility to inform the Department for Work & Pensions of any changes to your rent. You can do this quickly by completing the 'To-Do' item in your online claim which is titled 'Confirm your housing costs'.

Failure to complete the To-Do item within 1 month of the change may result in you being underpaid Universal Credit. If you are unsure of how to do this, please contact your Income Account Manager.

How to contact us about rent payments 

You can request a statement from us by calling the Contact Team on 020 8354 5500.