Rent and charges FAQs

See paying my rent and charges for the many different ways to pay your rent. Remember you can conveniently pay your rent any time through your MyRaven online account.

Pay my rent

Your rent is due either weekly or monthly and in advance as set out in your tenancy agreement. You need to be in advance as per how often you pay, so if you pay monthly you need to pay a month in advance. If you pay weekly, you need to pay a week in advance. If you have concerns about this, please discuss them with your income officer.

A quarterly rent statement will be posted to you or you can check anytime on your MyRaven online account. Log into the MyRaven using the below link, select ‘My accounts’, then you will see your account details, statements and charges breakdown. You also have the option to opt out of receiving paper statements and receive an email to view this online.

Check my balance

Yes you can! As part of our ongoing commitment to sustainability, we’re inviting you to opt out of receiving your quarterly rent statements by post.

By opting out, you’ll receive an email notification each quarter when your account is ready to view on your MyRaven online account.

Opt out of paper rent statements

Your tenancy agreement is a contract and payment in advance is one of the terms of that contract. This applies whether you receive benefits or not. If you’re unable to bring your account into advance straight away, you need to make an arrangement with your income officer to pay extra over time. You must pay in advance by the frequency you or your benefits pay, for example if you pay monthly or we receive your Housing Costs direct to us monthly, then you need to be a month in advance.

Yes, if you already pay by Direct Debit, we will amend it to reflect the change. You’ll receive a letter to advise you of the new Direct Debit amount a couple of weeks before your rent changes. If you don’t currently pay by Direct Debit and want to change over, please see paying my rent and charges to set this up.

You’re now able to receive Allpay email confirmations for Direct Debits where you would have received a letter before, please contact us to set this up.

If you pay by Direct Debit and are registered to MyRaven, we have set you up with this option already. These emails will be from noreply@allpay.net. The first time you receive this you’ll need to click the link to verify your email address.

From Monday 6th November 2023, the way we display your rent and service charge balances changed.

Previously, when you check your balance, a negative number (for example -£125) indicated that you were in credit and a positive number (for example £125) meant you were in arrears. This has been standard in Housing Associations for many years. However, we’ve chosen to align our balance display with other industries like banks, utilities and other bills to make it easier for you.

Here’s how your rent is presented now and moving forward:

• when you see a positive number (for example £125) next to your balance, it means you’re in credit.
• when you see a negative number (for example -£125) it indicates you’re in arrears and you owe some money.

If you’re struggling to pay your rent, please request an email/call back from your income officer by completing the form via your MyRaven online account. You can access this by clicking the button below and then selecting ‘Manage account’ from your current agreement, select ‘request contact’ and choose the best way for us to get in touch.

Request contact with my income officer

There are lots of different ways we can help with advice and support. We have a whole section on our website dedicated to this: Help with money and benefits.

No, the total is still 2.7% for rent and fixed service charges. If you have other variable, for example for personal or block heating, these may go up or down at a different rate depending on actual use.

This is a legal notice we’re required to serve on some tenancies to advise that we’re increasing the rent. 

There are a small number of tenancies where a 2.7% increase would be over either the government’s rent cap for regulated rents or one of our caps here at Raven. This is explained in your rent increase letter, if it applies to you. 

Rent and fixed service charges have been set at 2.7%. If you have variable charges, for example personal or block heating, these may go up or down at a different rate as they’re based on actual use.

Examples include cleaning your block, lift maintenance or grounds maintenance. What you pay for will be listed in your tenancy agreement. These are fixed service charges and will generally be increased by the same amount as the rent each year. Some homes also have other charges that change to reflect actual costs. For example, if you live in a sheltered housing scheme or temporary accommodation scheme where heating charges are included, the cost will be based on use and may go up or down.

If you pay monthly, your monthly rent will already have your rent-free weeks factored into your payments.

If you pay by any other frequency, we’ll amend your Direct Debit to account for the rent-free weeks.

Although you won’t be charged rent on these weeks, we’d strongly advise and expect you to still pay to get yourself back into advance as soon as possible.

Increasing your rent inline with inflation ensures we can continue to invest in maintaining and improving your home, keeping your neighbourhoods clean and safe, and planning for the future.

We also use this income to help fund important services you can access as a customer; including Moneywise, employment support, our Customer Support Fund, and other community investment.
In the last year, we’ve made considerable investment into reducing damp, mould and condensation and have supported customers to free their home of damp and mould.

During the 2023-24 financial year, our Moneywise team worked with customers, helping them to claim more than £1.9m in benefits and funds.

Last year we launched our new three year plan called Delivering What Matters. We’re working hard towards the objectives of this plan to make lasting changes to improve the services you receive. You can find out more about this plan and how we’re doing here –
www.ravenht.org.uk/delivering-what-matters-performance.

No, you need to notify Housing Benefit or update your Universal Credit journal.

If you don’t report the changes, it could cause delays or mean your increase doesn’t get covered by your benefits. You’d still be liable to cover your full rent.

The one exception is if you live in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead and receive Housing Benefit payments paid directly to us. In this case, we’ll notify them with your new rent and charges for you.  

Once you’ve updated your Universal Credit journal with your new rent and service changes from April 2025, Universal Credit should tell you what they’re going to pay towards your rent on your April statement.

Once you’ve informed Housing Benefit of your new rent and service charges from April 2025, they should send you a letter to let you know what your new entitlement will be.  

If you need to adjust your payments, please contact us. We can help set up different payment methods that work best for you. We can also give you free support and advice if you’re struggling to pay or need help with benefits.