Shared Owners pay rent when they own less than 100% of their property. Rent is payable monthly in advance on the first day of the month and is reviewed annually.
You can register on the Thames Valley Housing website in order to view your rent account online. Just go to the Registration Page and complete your details. You must give a valid tenants reference number to log in.
Please note, you will see that you are offered an online repairs reporting facility when you register. This is for internal repairs which Thames Valley Housing do not carry out for home owners. If you need to report a communal repair, please contact the Customer Service Centre on 0800 358 7767.
This is the standard method of payment and means payment comes directly from your bank account. Your bank will not have to amend the charges when they change. You can set up direct debit at any time by filling in a direct debit form and sending it to your Leasehold Management Officer. Call 0845 35 12345 request a Direct Debit form.
You will also received a Payment Card which can be used to make occasional payments over the phone or online - more details will be sent with your card. To register or to make online payments, you can use the Bills Online service.
You can also use this card to make payments by cash or cheque at a post office, or when making a cash payment at a Pay Point or a Pay Zone. When you use this method you will be given a receipt
You can also pay rent and your service charge over the phone using Maestro, Visa or Mastercard. You will need your account reference number. Phone your Leasehold Management Officer on 0845 35 12345(option 2) or their direct line to make a payment.
You can also pay by coming to our heasd office or posting a cheque. Cheques should be make payable to Thames Valley Housing Assocation. Please do not send cash in the post.
Service Charges are paid by all residents living in properties that benefit from communal services. Leaseholders and freeholders pay a proportion of the costs for delivering these services.
Service Charges Vary with different properties and estates by may include the cost of:
Communal lighting;
Communal repairs;
Cleaning communal areas;
Maintaining door entry systems;
Gardening services
Communal Building insurance
Management fees
Audit fees
Service Charges are calculated on an estimated basis, yearly in advance.
Every February service charge notifications are sent to all leaseholders. These show charges to cover the forthcoming financial year that will come into effect every 1st April. Your lease will state an apportionment figure that will be used to calculate your share of the service charge.
After the charges have been audited statements are sent to residents. These outline exactly which costs were incurred by Thames Valley Housing in the previous financial year.
When estimated charges are sent to you there will either be a credit or debit figure on the statement, depending on the amount spent on delivering these services as against the estimated.
Sometimes you may need to pay us for something other than your rent or service charge, for instance a rechargeable repair, or court costs. If this is the case you will be sent a Special Payments card. You can use this to make payments in person, over the phone, or online, as with the standard payment card. You must only use this to pay these additional amounts (also known as "sundry debts"). It's very important that you use the right card to make the right kind of payment, or we might not realise you have paid us!
If you are having financial difficulties let us know - please do not ignore the payments on your home - you could risk losing it.
Organisations like the Citizen's Advice Bureau can provide advice and support. We can also arrange for a member of staff to visi you in your home to discuss the problem.
We will write to you when one month's rent and/or service charge has not been paid. If you do not contact us we will write again and may send a copy of the letter to your mortgage lender. We may ask your mortgage lender to write to you if we have still not received payment or come to an arrangement with you to pay the arrears.
We regularly monitor rent and service charge payments to ensure that we are able to inform residents before arrears get out of control.