Help & Support

We’ll post your rent/service charge review letters from 16 February 2026 by 2nd Class post:

• Week starting 16 February 2026 – Rent only letter  
• Week starting 16 February 2026 – Leasehold and shared ownership rent, and service charge letters  
• Week starting 23 February 2026 - Social rent and service charge increase letters   

Take a moment to read your letter carefully. It includes everything you need to know about paying your rent or service charges, along with other important information.

If anything isn’t clear or you’d like more information, take a look at the answers below. You can also get in touch by calling us on 0800 652 0898, sending a WhatsApp message to 07401 329880, or using live chat on our website or through your online account.

We’re sending the letters out in batches by second class post. If you haven’t had a letter by 6 March, then get in touch with us.
If you’ve changed your postal address, it’s important you let us know so we can update your records and can keep in touch with you.
You can contact us through your online account and we will upload a copy of your letter there.

If your rent is charged monthly, or quarterly the change starts from 1 April 2026. Your letter will explain what is happening and when in more detail.
If your rent is charged weekly, the charge will start on 6 April 2026.

• Every year we review rents in line with tenancy agreements and government guidance. We follow rules set by the government to calculate any changes to the rent for our social and affordable rented housing customers
• From April, the rents will increase by up to 4.8%. Government legislation for the year 2026-27 states the rent can be increased by up to CPI (Consumer Price Index) + 1%. CPI measures inflation by looking at changes in the prices of goods
• If you live in a market rental VIVID home this will increase by 4.8%
• If the home is a joint venture with Stoneham Park Development LLP, Woodside Avenue Homes LLP or Homes for Eastleigh LLP this will increase by 5.4% - please be aware that we're the managing agent for these homes
• If you’re a shared owner, your rent will be reviewed in line with the terms of your lease, which will generally be linked to RPI (Retail Price Index)
• If you claim benefits such as Housing Benefit and Universal Credit to help to pay your rent, the good news is that these will increase in line with inflation from April onwards. We’ll continue to do everything we can to help you, and you can find more details on the support we can provide here

• As a not-for-profit organisation, we reinvest back into our homes and services
• Over the next year, we’ll keep working on getting repairs done faster, investing in our homes and improving the services you can access through your online account

• If your housing benefit is paid directly to us, you don’t need to do anything as we’ll do this for you. You should be receiving a letter from your housing benefits office confirming your entitlement from April 2026. If you haven’t received this letter by the end of March, then please give your housing benefit office a call
• If housing benefit is paid directly to you, then you do need to let them know of the changes to your rent and service charges as soon as possible
• If the Housing Benefit office asks you to provide any information regarding your claim, please provide them with the Rent Review letter as it may affect your claim 
• If you don’t currently claim and feel you will not be able to pay your rent, contact your income officer, and use our Benefit & Budgeting Calculator  to see whether you are claiming everything that you are entitled to

• If you receive Universal Credit, enter your new rent and applicable service charges in the ‘confirm your housing costs' tasks in the to-do list section of your Universal Credit journal after 6 April
• Do not use the ‘change of circumstances’ section to report an annual rent change
• If you have a phone claim, you should ring the helpline on 0800 328 5644 after 6 April to give them details. If you need help to do this or are making a new claim for Universal Credit, please let us know as we can offer help and support
• To help things go smoothly, please wait to report your housing costs until your ‘to‑do’ list appears, or until 6 April (whichever comes first). If you send them in earlier, we won’t be able to process them and may need to ask you to resubmit, something we’d really like to avoid for you

For more details, visit our Benefits page. There, you'll also find a link to our Benefits and Budgeting Calculator, which can help you determine the benefits you may qualify for and how changes in your household budget could impact your income.

If you pay by direct debit, we’ll automatically recalculate the amount you pay from April 2026 and let you know in writing separately. The adjustment may not take effect until your May 2026 payment. The amount you pay will be adjusted to take any delay into account.
If you receive any housing benefit, the direct debit will be adjusted after your first housing benefit payment is received in April.

• The simplest and easiest way to pay your rent is by direct debit. To find out how to set up a direct debit everything you need is here
• To calculate your monthly payments, multiply your weekly charge by the number of weeks you are charged (52 in most cases, though some customers in Aldershot pay 48 weeks) and divide by 12 months. If you’re unsure how much you should be paying, please get in touch and we can look into this with you
• Once you’ve set up a direct debit, it’ll send us a set amount of money from your bank account on a set date. You won’t need to do anything else and don’t need to worry about missing a payment

• If you pay monthly by standing order, you must ask your bank to change your payment amounts from April 2026
• To calculate your monthly payments, multiply your weekly charge by the number of weeks you are charged (52 in most cases, though some customers in Aldershot pay 48 weeks) and divide by 12 months. If you’re unsure how much you should be paying, WhatsApp message us on 07401 329880 or through our live chat or call us on 0800 652 0898
• Remember to include any arrears or arrangements you’ve agreed with us in your standing order payment
• Again, if you are unsure of your payment amount speak to one of our team and they will be able to help you

• To calculate your monthly payments, multiply your weekly charge by the number of weeks you are charged (52 in most cases, though some customers in Aldershot pay 48 weeks) and divide by 12 months
• Remember to consider any arrears or arrangements you’ve agreed with us
• If you’re unsure how much you should be paying, please get in touch and we can look into this with you

When we're open you can:

• WhatsApp message us on 07401 329880 and follow the prompts to speak to one of our advisors
• Message us through the chatbot to be guided to live chat with one of our advisors
• Call us on 0800 652 0898 to speak to one of our advisors

You can also create a case, to do this open the chatbot through online account and select or type rent review and follow the prompts, which will send your query to a member of the VIVID team.

When we're open you can:

• WhatsApp message us on 07401 329880 and follow the prompts to speak to one of our advisors
• Message us through the chatbot to be guided to live chat with one of our advisors
• Call us on 0800 652 0898 to speak to one of our advisors

You can also create a case, to do this open the chatbot through online account and select or type rent review and follow the prompts, which will send your query to a member of the VIVID team.