Financial help
If you are struggling to pay your rent or you are at risk of becoming homeless please contact the council’s Housing Advice Service.
If you are struggling with debt, then you might be able to get some advice from the National Debtline Service.
What are a ‘fixed-term’ tenancy and a ‘periodic’ tenancy?
When you agree a tenancy, the agreement is usually for a fixed ‘term’. Often this term is the first six months, year, or three years of the agreement. After the fixed- term ends, your tenancy does not end. Instead, it automatically becomes ‘periodic’ – it continues, rolling on from period to period. The length of that period is either a month or a week, depending on whether you are due to pay rent monthly or weekly.
Sometimes there is no fixed-term – you and the landlord just agree from the start that you will rent for an indefinite period, from month to month or week to week.
If your tenancy is periodic from the beginning of the tenancy, your landlord is generally unable to evict you during the first six months. Even if your tenancy has become periodic, your landlord cannot end it without serving formal legal notice.
Read Shelter’s information on types of tenancies.
If you are having difficulties paying the rent, get help as quickly as you can from one of the agencies signed up to the charter. You may well be entitled to housing benefit to help with the rent. You can claim housing benefit on the council website.
If you are having difficulties paying the rent, get help as quickly as you can from one of the agencies signed up to the charter. You may well be entitled to housing benefit to help with the rent. You can claim housing benefit on the council website.