Your feedback has changed how we support tenants in arrears

We recently asked for your views on how we deal with rent arrears and how we support tenants who may be struggling with their rent.

What you told us:

• You said the letters we send about rent arrears could be too harsh and made you feel worried.
• Some were concerned that the possibility of eviction was mentioned too early in the process.
• Others asked for clearer and more supportive communication from Housing Officers. 
• There was also feedback that automated letters could be confusing and sometimes sent before your payments had time to show.
• Some found the rent statements on the Tenant Portal difficult to understand.
• We also heard that more support is needed, especially for people with disabilities or communication needs and that we should be more understanding of individual situations.
• You felt staff needed better training, and that your feedback should be used to help shape our policies and procedures.

What we’ve done:

• We updated our letters to make them clearer and more tenant-friendly, while still meeting legal requirements.
• We’re training staff to communicate in a more supportive and understanding way.
• We’re reviewing our approach to automated letters and looking at sending more personal messages instead.
• We’ve changed our systems to reduce unnecessary letters and to allow time for payments to show.
• We’re also working on making rent statements easier to understand, similar to the quarterly rent statements.
• We’ve updated our Individual Needs Policy and added alerts to our system so staff are aware of any extra support you might need.
• We’re also promoting services like Leeds Credit Union to help with money advice and budgeting.
• We used your feedback to update our Income Procedures in June 2025, and we’ll use it again when we update the Rent Policy in August.