Your rent

Use this guide to help you find information about paying your rent.

Your rent is made up of net rent and service charges.

  • The net rent covers the general cost of maintaining and managing your home and neighbourhood.
  • The service charges are for services specifically provided to your home or local area, for example, ground maintenance, estate cleaning, or communal facilities such as a concierge, and estate lighting.

If you think you're being charged for a service you are not receiving, for example you have had no hot water for several days because your water heater has broken, please phone the Rents Team on 020 7926 8790 or email to RentsTeam@lambeth.gov.uk.

If you are on a low income, you may be eligible for help with your net rent and certain service charges through housing benefit.

However, housing benefit does not cover some other charges that may be added to your rent.

These include heating and hot water charges for communal heating and hot water systems.

Other costs relating to your home may be charged separately and not included in your weekly rent, for example, the cost of hiring a garage from us.

Changes to your rent and charges

We have the right to change your rent and other service charges at any time, but we usually only do this once a year.

We will give you at least four weeks’ written notice if we propose to change your rent or service charges.

We will send you a rent notification letter, which shows the new rent and other charges you will have to pay, and the date when your rent will change.