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Debt Advice Handbook 14th edition

Rent

• The legal position
• Special features
• Checklist for action

Rent is payable by tenants to landlords in exchange for the use of their property. A landlord may be either a private individual or a property company, or a public sector landlord, such as a local authority or housing association.

The legal position

Rent is payable under a tenancy agreement (whether written or oral). For more details of tenancy agreements, see Defending Possession Proceedings, published by Legal Action Group (see Appendix 2).

Special features

After the termination of a tenancy (eg, because a notice to quit is served), a tenant can remain in possession of the home because of protection given by legislation. In these circumstances, the landlord may refer to the money due in exchange for possession of the home as ’mesne profits’

. For practical purposes, this is the same as rent. Similarly, if a person is a licensee rather than a tenant, what s/he pays is not strictly rent, but a charge for use of the property. Arrears of payment due under a licence are treated in the same way as rent when giving debt advice.

Checklist for action

Advisers should take the following action.

•Consider whether emergency action is necessary (see Chapter 8).
•Check liability. If possession proceedings have started, see Chapter 12.
•Assist the client to choose a strategy from Chapter 8 as this is a priority debt if the rent is due on the client’s current home. Otherwise, the arrears are a non-priority debt. Assist the client to choose a strategy from Chapter 9.