How Can A Tenant Pay Rent After Losing A Job?

Posted by scarletmartin on January 18th, 2024

It’s hard to tell when you may be out of work. Aspects like the pandemic, recessions, bear markets, sudden company shutdowns, and pay cuts can be the reason for unemployment. However, the bills never stop. Your smartphone pops up with notifications as payment reminders.

The situation gets worse with tenants. Apart from managing the usual expenses like- utility bills, groceries, car repair and re-fueling, etc., they must pay the rent. Delay in paying one may invite the landlord’s scorn. If you live as a tenant and lose your job, maintaining regular rental payments gets challenging. Missing rent is not a perfect solution. It impacts your relations with the landlord and your credit score too. Thus, check other ways to manage your rental payments.

The blog discusses some ways to manage your rent payments after losing your job. It lists some practical and helpful ways to deal with crises.

5 helpful Ways to Pay Rent as an Unemployed

Losing your job can be scary but do not lose hope. You can take some initiatives to stay afloat while exploring job opportunities. Identify the best ways to negotiate with your landlord. If you share a good relationship with him and have been regular with payments, he may help. However, there are more ways to deal with rent payments. Here are some:

1) Apply for housing benefit

Housing benefit is a scheme by the government that allows renters to pay rent if unemployed. You can get one if:

• You pay rent
• Your savings are less than £16000
• You have low or no income at all

Under this, you can claim for up to 13 weeks of rent in advance. The amount you get depends on whether you rent privately or from a council.

2) Surrender the tenancy agreement

If you are in rental arrears and cannot find a solution to pay, end the tenancy. It means you can walk out of the agreement. It will help the landlord find a new tenant. Additionally, it would cost some administration and legal fees. Do not worry, your initial deposit maycover it up for you.

If still, you fall short of cash, get bad credit loans with no guarantor and no broker facility. You do not need a guarantor or pay broker extra to clear dues. It helps you finance the remaining fees and balance to walk away without any dues. It will avoid any legal action on the landlord’s part.

3) Negotiate a solution with a landlord

If you do not want to leave the premises or have too many arrears, negotiate with the landlord. If you are on a good part with each other, he may help you clear dues. Understand the total amount due for payment. Check how much you can pay out of your savings. Do not impact your budget’s bottom line while doing so. Keep some flexibility on the financial part.

After arriving at the minimum amount you can pay towards the debt, call your landlord. Discuss your situation and negotiate the payment terms. It will help you avoid the hassle and pay the dues after getting a suitable job opportunity. The landlord may provide you with 30 days to clear the remaining amount. He may excuse you of some interest charges or late payments if you have been on good terms. If you cannot pay within that period, he may begin the eviction process.

4) Search for part-time work opportunities

Financing minimal requirements after losing the job gets challenging. You skip one thing or two to ensure a minimal lifestyle living. However, having an additional income injection may help you. It grants you the flexibility to finance the requirements. Moreover, you can rest assured the landlord of pay the dues within some time.

Try to do 3-4 part-time work depending on your capacity. It will help you know the best ways to tackle bills and rent timely. However, constantly search for regular job opportunities. Save more towards the rent payments than worrying about regular expenses. If you encounter any emergency in between, get loans with bad credit and on benefit payments for help. It may help you if you leverage government unemployment benefits. You can get small cash quickly by revealing the payment slip. Use it to finance any emergency needs. It will help you reach your goal to save for rent payments without obstacles.           

5) Find a guarantor

Check if someone is ready to take your tenancy agreement on lease. He is more probably a guarantor. This is because a tenancy agreement lies between a landlord and the tenant. However, if the tenant fails to pay the dues, the guarantor enters the agreement. He acts as a security for the tenant. Precisely, he is legally obliged to cover you financially.

However, the landlord checks the guarantor’s financial potential if he shares the potential to pay the dues. The guarantor must be UK-based.

Bottom line

Unemployment brings multiple challenges. One of them is meeting regular rental payments. However, losing a job is not the end of the world. You can get through it by analysing the available solutions. For example, negotiate a payable amount with the landlord, check part-time job options to cover payments, consolidate some debts and use it to pay the dues, seek Housing benefits, etc. The blog explains these in detail. It will help you arrange a suitable solution as a tenant.