Managing rent arrears - a local authority perspective
Centralised Debt Recovery Team
South Lanarkshire Council operates a decentralised housing service with seven local area offices. However, a decision was taken to establish officers within a central support section to deal with any court work. Members of the team represent the Council at court, and liaise with internal and external organisations in relation to arrears cases (e.g. solicitors, Social Work etc.)
A comprehensive checklist of actions taken prior to court work is completed by staff and passed to the Debt Recovery Team with proposed recommendations. Details include:
- Contact made with tenant and outcome
- Information on repayment arrangements
- Housing Benefit details where appropriate
- Money Advice referral
- Vulnerability
- Tenant's income
- Internal/external liaison contacts
- Payments made
- Other debts
- Previous court actions
No application can be accepted for court action unless all relevant issues have been addressed. This has led to a significant decrease in applications for court activity and an increase in preventative measures being applied to control rent arrears amounts.
It must be emphasised that no case can proceed to court unless the individual has been contacted and ultimately referred for money advice. If a case is considered to be potentially vulnerable, Social Work Service is notified in advance of any potential court action.
Many initially difficult situations are resolved well in advance of the potential risk of tenants losing their home through eviction. This is evident by the number of eviction decrees implemented compared with our performance in rent arrears recovery.
