The Council would prefer not to have to evict anyone for rent arrears.

Tenants are given every opportunity to pay and are warned that they may lose their home if they do not pay. Tenants who continue to ignore these warnings and wilfully do not pay their rent put themselves in the position of being homeless. Those who do not pay their rent should not expect other tenants to, in effect, pay for their failures. In the interest of all tenants, we will continue to take firm action against those who do not pay, as well as concentrating on preventing tenants from getting into arrears in the first place.

The Council provides a housing advice service through the One Stop Shop, the objective of that service is to prevent homelessness. We can put homeseekers in touch with private landlords and social landlords who have property available for letting. There is a hostel for single homeless adults to which Slough has nomination rights and we also operate a supported tenancy rent deposit scheme. The Neighbourhood Housing Officer notifies the housing advice service when they are proceeding with an eviction. Tenants in this situation are advised to call in and see us.

In some cases bed and breakfast accommodation will be offered on the same day whilst enquiries are made to establish what duty may be owed under the homelessness legislation. Once enquiries are complete, the homeless applicant will be advised in writing whether the Council has a duty to rehouse them.

If the decision is that the applicant became homeless intentionally for failing to pay their rent, the Council will have no duty to rehouse them but will continue to offer advice and assistance. This will include referral to several landlords and the offer of the rent deposit scheme if the homeless person is able to find their own property.