An ill Nottingham woman has said she fears eviction after she was served two court orders by her housing provider when she failed to pay rent and clear her arrears. Mandy Fitzpatrick has been with Nottingham Community Housing Association for the last 11 years, and says she has always been open with her financial situation, despite NCHA deciding to take legal action.
Miss Fitzpatrick fell ill with heart palpitations in the middle of March this year and has been signed off sick from work while she waits for a hospital appointment. She also said she had recently started a new job as a chef in a care home but is still waiting on wages and sick pay as her DBS check has taken longer than anticipated.
Miss Fitzpatrick, who lives in St Ann's, said the arrears have occurred due to being in and out of work during the pandemic. She was served the first court order around three weeks ago, and the second on May 3.
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Speaking on whether she fears she could lose her home, she said: "Yes I definitely [fear eviction]. We all consider our homes our castles and our safe places."
The 52-year-old owed £2,440 as of May 3 and says she has been using government payments to help clear the arrears. Miss Fitzpatrick said she recently paid out more than £500 using universal credit to decrease her arrears to approximately £1900.
Miss Fitzpatrick bought the property in around 2006 with her first wife but remortgaged it when they split. She then went through a number of redundancies around 2010 and 2011, and the NCHA got involved with the property.
Miss Fitzpatrick has also been impacted by the recent rent increases in social housing and said her rent has gone up from £423 to £479 a month - this equates to more than £650 each year. Speaking on how the rent increase will impact her daily life, she added: "It's going to make an impact with regards to what I'm spending on food.
"I don't drink and I don't smoke. But there would be a need for some changes, like changing food brands, I don't go out much anyway." She also anticipated that energy bills will be a problem the next winter.
Holly Dagnall, Director of Homes and Wellbeing at NCHA said: "As a charitable social landlord, our aim is to provide good quality, affordable accommodation to those in need, and support people to keep their home for as long as they need it. Our rents are set using a government formula that considers the value and size of the property, as well as the local income level.
"And we complete regular affordability checks to ensure our homes remain truly affordable when compared to privately rented homes in the same area. Currently, our rents are on average 68% of the median private rented sector rent.
“For any customer who has built up a level of rent arrears, we will seek to work with them to arrange an affordable payment plan, and ensure they are receiving all the budgeting advice and benefit payments they are entitled to. We have a team of colleagues dedicated to supporting our customers with their rent payments, and we will always work with customers to help them sustain their tenancies.
“We manage over 10,000 homes across the East Midlands. Over 7,000 of these are set at affordable and social rent. The remainder majority comprises of supported housing, care homes and shared ownership). In the year 2021/22 we built an additional 304 new homes for affordable and social rent.
“For 2023 our affordable rent increased by 7%. This was in line with the government-imposed affordable rent cap, but also well below inflation. It is vital that we review our rents each year, and increase them as necessary to ensure we can continue to deliver the services our customers need, whilst ensuring they remain well below market rent levels.
“We have a dedicated page on our website to support customers who need help with paying rent and we signpost to external money and benefits advice agencies.”
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