Avoid homelessness: advice for private renters

This is a web version of our Avoid homelessness: advice for private renters factsheet (PDF, 180.13 KB).

The information on this page was correct at the time of publication (1 May 2026).

Are you struggling to pay your rent or bills?

The current housing crisis and increased cost of living make it harder to rent in Enfield and most of London.

Rents are higher and there are fewer homes for rent in Enfield.

You could be evicted if you do not pay your rent. If you become homeless, you will have little control over where you live.

Get help paying your rent or bills

You must not wait until your landlord asks you to leave. If you cannot pay your rent, get advice and help soon. There are links at the end of this factsheet to advice on how to get extra money.

You can also call Citizens Advice on 0800 144 8848 (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm).

Claiming welfare benefits

You could get money to help with your rent and other bills from benefits such as Universal Credit and Council Tax Reduction.

To make sure you are receiving all the benefits you can claim, ask Citizens Advice for help or use an online benefits calculator.

Are you affected by the benefit cap?

If your benefits are capped, your Housing Benefit or the Housing Costs element of your Universal Credit will be lower. Exceptions to the benefit cap are explained on the GOV.UK website (search for ‘benefit cap’).

Can you afford your rent?

It is important that you do all you can to avoid becoming homeless.

If your rent is increased, you should:

• check your budget and claim the welfare benefits you can
• get advice and plan how you could afford the new rent amount

If you claim welfare benefits, you could get money to help you pay your rent. The amount you can get is known as the Local Housing Allowance (LHA).

You can estimate how much money welfare benefits could pay for your rent. You can use a benefits calculator. You can also ask for help from Citizens Advice or your local library.

If you cannot afford your rent, you should find somewhere affordable to live as soon as possible.

What happens if you do not renew your tenancy?

From 1 May 2026, most private tenancies will become assured periodic tenancies (APTs).

An APT will continue on a rolling basis (usually from month to month). It does not have a fixed end date. So, you do not need to renew your tenancy agreement.

However, if you stay in the property, you must keep paying rent and follow the terms of your tenancy agreement.

Your tenancy will continue until you choose to leave or your landlord ends the tenancy.

Under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, landlords can no longer evict tenants without a reason. To end your tenancy, your landlord must give a specific legal ‘ground’. They must also follow the correct legal process, including giving you required notice.

What help can you get if you are evicted?

It is illegal for your landlord to threaten or harass you to move out. Shelter and GOV.UK have guides explaining your eviction rights as a private tenant. Links to these websites are at the end of this factsheet.

Your ‘housing status’ or the kind of tenancy you have will affect how you can be legally evicted. For private sector tenants, advice will also depend on why you have been evicted.

Ask for help as soon as you know you could be evicted. You should not wait until you have left.

The council offers free advice on evictions. However, the help – and housing support – we can provide will depend on your circumstances.

For example, if you are being legally evicted and you are eligible for housing assistance, we could help you find somewhere else to live.

However, our legal duties to assist you will be more limited if you are considered ‘intentionally homeless’. For example, because you have been evicted for rent arrears or the way you have conducted the tenancy.

Could the council decide that you are ‘intentionally homeless’?

We could consider you to be ‘intentionally homeless’ if you were living somewhere that is ‘available and reasonable for you to occupy’.

Also, you must:

• have done something – or failed to do something – that caused you to lose that accommodation
• have not acted in good faith

What happens if you become homeless or you are at risk of becoming homeless?

You can ask Enfield Council for help, but we can only provide homelessness help for eligible people. We provide support based on our statutory duties, and your circumstances.

The help we can give you might not be what you expect. For example, if we have a legal duty to house you, you might stay in basic accommodation for a long time before you can move to a new home.

Also, you would only get 1 offer of suitable housing from us.

We offer housing throughout the UK so you might move to a place where private rents are more affordable than rents in Enfield and London. For example, a home in the Midlands or the north of England.

For more information about how we house eligible homeless households, please read our placement policy. There is a link to the full policy at the end of this factsheet.

Does being homeless mean you will get social housing (a council home)?

No. After 15 November 2011, being homeless does not mean you will get social housing. Also, Enfield has a long waiting list for council housing. For example, you could wait 15 years for a 3-bedroom council property.

What should you do next?

You will have more control over your housing if you can avoid becoming homeless.

1. Start by getting money and advice to pay your rent
2. Check you are claiming all the benefits you are allowed to
3. If you cannot stay in your current home, search for private sector housing you can afford to rent. If you are working, you could consider alternatives such as rent-to-buy (London Living rent) or shared ownership.
4. If you do become homeless, there is help available from various charities and services. There are links at the end of this factsheet.

However, Enfield Council only provides statutory homelessness support to eligible people.

If you are eligible for an offer of homelessness housing from us, you might have to move far away and outside of London where rents are more affordable.

References and further advice

Paying your rent and rent arrears

• Get help to pay your rent (Citizens Advice)
• Rent advice from our online self-help tool
• Breathing space debt respite (rent arrears) (GOV.UK)
• Cost of living support and help to pay your bills

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) and rents

• LHA for private renters (Shelter)
• The LHA rates for Enfield
• Rent comparison showing high rents and fewer homes in Enfield (Home.co.uk)
• Search LHA rates for different parts of the UK

Claiming welfare benefits

• Benefits help and advice (MoneyHelper)
• Benefits (Citizens Advice)
• Benefits you can get (Citizens Advice)
• Benefits calculators (GOV.UK)
• Housing costs and Universal Credit (GOV.UK)

Benefit cap

• Benefit cap (Turn2us)
• Benefit cap exemptions (GOV.UK)

Debt advice

• Call National Debtline for free debt advice on 0808 808 4000
• Dealing with debt (MoneyHelper)

Tenancies and evictions

• Renters’ Rights Act 2025 overview for tenants (GOV.UK)
• Private renting (GOV.UK)
• Tenancy status checker (Shelter)
• Private renting tenancy agreements (GOV.UK)
• ‘Section 8’ grounds and eviction rules your landlord must follow (GOV.UK)
• Eviction (Shelter)
• Possession proceedings (Shelter)
• Information for private tenants in Enfield
• What to do if your landlord asks you to leave

Finding an affordable home to rent or buy

• How to find a property to rent
• Rent to buy (GOV.UK)
• Affordable home ownership scheme (GOV.UK)

Homelessness advice

• Avoiding homelessness
• What happens if you become homeless
• Shelter’s free phone number is 0808 800 4444

Homelessness law and the council’s duties

• Homelessness help from your council (our statutory duties) (GOV.UK)
• Enfield Council’s housing placement policy for homeless households
• Localism Act 2011
• Intentional homelessness (GOV.UK)
• Housing Act 1996