This means you have an extra weeks rent to pay in a Leap year and so your payments may look higher than you thought they would be.

When there are 52 weeks in the year, and rent is charged weekly but customers prefer to pay monthly, we calculate payments as follows:

Weekly Rent Charge (e.g. £100) x No of weeks in the financial year (52) / No of monthly payments due in the year (12)

When calculating your monthly rent payment in a leap year, the calculation changes to:

Weekly Rent Charge (e.g. £100) x No of weeks in the financial year (53) / No of monthly payments due in the year (12

For those in receipt of Housing Benefit, your local authority will pay 53 weeks rent over the course of the year and you only need to pay any shortfall between your rent charge and benefit entitlement, as well as any payments you are due to make to ensure you do not fall into arrears between payments. This is known as paying your rent when it is due.

However, the DWP does not pay the 53^rd week for customers in receipt of Universal Credit. This is a decision made by the DWP that they will only ever calculate payments based on 52 weeks in a year. This means your monthly payment will not cover your full monthly rent charge each month this year and you will need to pay any shortfall plus ensure your account does not fall into arrears between payments i.e. your rent is paid when it is due.

The first thing to do is speak to your Early Intervention or Income Management Officer. If you say you are unable to cover the shortfall in your rent plus cover any arrears on your account, our team can complete a budget planner with you to look at your outgoings and the income you receive as a household. They can also make referrals to our Money Advice Team, Affordable Warmth Team or signpost you to external agencies to help with other issues such as any non priority debts or loans you may be struggling with. The aim of this is to help you prioritise and maximise your income to ensure you are able to secure your tenancy and your home by ensuring your account does not fall into increasing arrears.

Firstly, you should calculate what your monthly rent payment should be by using the calculation above for 53 weeks. If you are in receipt of Universal Credit, you should check how much your last payment for Housing costs was (you can check this in your UC journal) and calculate the difference. This is the amount that needs to be paid every month from April 2024 to cover your rent so you will need to ensure we have two payments of this amount in May.

*Please note, if you are making additional payments towards any arrears, you will need to add this to the rent shortfall*

If you do not receive benefits, and are charged rent weekly but pay it monthly, you should also check your have paid the correct amount based on the 53 week calculation. If you haven’t, then you will need to increase your payments as soon as possible and pay the shortfall for each month that has passed since April e.g. if you increase your payment in May, you will need to also pay the difference from April.

Whether you receive benefits or not, you should also check whether your rent account falls into arrears between your payments, you can check this on the MyRiverside App. If your account does fall into arrears between payments, you will need to pay this amount to us to make sure your account does not stay in arrears.

Lastly, if you do prefer to speak to one of the team to confirm the payments and make an arrangement, you can call us on freephone 0800 333333. We are experiencing very high call volumes right now so please bear in mind you may experience a wait time before your call is answered.