Rents and Benefits

We have produced a short film which gives an overview of how our rent service works. You can view our Introduction to our rent service here.

The rent for all Council dwellings and garages is charged on a weekly basis over 50 weeks.

The rent that the Council receives is used to pay for most of the services that tenants receive, such as repairs, grounds maintenance and general estate management.

Some tenants pay an additional service charge to cover special services they receive, such as the provision of heating and hot water in sheltered housing.

If you're experiencing difficulties in paying your rent please get in touch before it becomes a problem. What to do about rent arrears is our information page that provides some solutions. You may also find some useful information on our benefits and assistance page.

You can download a Housing and Council Tax Benefit application form here.

Paying your rent

How often is your rent due?

You have a weekly tenancy and your rent should be paid each week.

You can pay your rent over a longer period than a week, but if you wish to do so you should always pay your rent in advance.

For two weeks over Christmas, no rent is charged.

How can you pay your rent?

For your convenience, we offer a range of ways to pay your rent.

You can pay your rent

• Through our Interactive Voice Recognition service 24 hours a day by telephoning 01670 542047 and follow the simple instructions given. You will need details of your rent account reference number and a debit or credit card. The minimum payment you can make using this service is £20. You can use any of these payment cards.
• Over the phone by calling any of our Local Housing Offices.You will need details of your rent account reference number and a debit or credit card. The minimum payment you can make using this service is £20.  You can use any of these payment cards.
• By direct debit from your bank or building society account. There are no cheques to write, no paperwork or postage and there’s no queuing, because payments are made for you, by your Bank or Building Society. You simply complete and sign the Direct Debit authorisation send it back to us and we take care of the rest.
• By standing order from your bank or building society account. More information and an application form is available from your local housing office.
• By cheque or postal order through the post. Please make your cheque or postal order payable to Blyth Valley Borough Council and remember to write your address and rent account number (if you know it) on the back. Never send cash through the post or put money through the letterbox at your local housing office.
• Over the Internet Payment Service via this website.

You can also pay your rent in person at the following places:

• At any local housing office.
• At the Yourlink Office at the following locations
  • Keel Row, Blyth
  • Avenue Road, Seaton Delaval 
• At the local post office in the following places
  • Nelson Village, Cramlington
  • East Hartford, Cramlington
  • New Hartley, Seaton Delaval
  • Seghill
  • Seaton Sluice

How much rent do you pay?

You will receive a rent card when you accept a tenancy from the Council, which shows you how much rent you pay.

We normally review your rent each year. If we intend to change it we will inform you of the new rent in writing at least four weeks beforehand. Any changes will normally come into effect in the first week of April.

If you are unhappy with the new rent, you can give notice to end your tenancy before the change comes into effect.

You will be sent a new rent card at the start of each financial year. It will show you any changes in the rent you should pay.

Rent Restructuring

The Government is changing the way that Council's must set their rents. Blyth Valley has to follow a national framework which applies to all local authorities and registered social landlords (housing associations). The changes will be brought in gradually and may not be completed until April 2012.

The new formula for working out your rent is complicated. It means that your rent will be based partly (70%) on the average earnings in Northumberland and partly (30%) on the value of the property you live in. The number of bedrooms in your home will also be taken into account. Normally the larger the house you live in the higher the rent you will pay.

To control the effect of these changes on each tenant, inidividual rents cannot rise by more than £2 per week above the rate of inflation each year.

Blyth Valley started to implement these changes in April 2002.

If you would like to know more about rent restructuring you can view the Government's Guide to Social Rent Reforms in the Local Authority Sector here.

Free Welfare Benefit Check

We can check to see if you are getting all the benefits you are entitled to. Don't delay call into your local area housing office today and ask for your free welfare benefit check.

Check out your own entitlement to a range of welfare benefits on line at www.entitledto.co.uk.

Further Information

You can obtain further information from the following:

The address to write to the Area Housing Offices can be found using this link.

Telephone: telephone details for the Area Housing Offices can be found using this link.

Typetalk service prefix number 18001

EMail: Neighbourhood Housing Manager