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53 Week Financial Year

This year is a 53-week year, what does that mean for your rent?

Your rent is due on a Monday throughout the year. Most financial years, which run from 1 April to 31 March, have 52 Mondays but this year has 53, meaning an extra week’s rent will be due. This occurs every five or six years.

What does this mean in terms of paying rent? Let’s have a look, based on an example rent of £100 per week.

A normal 52-week year Rent £100.00 per week X 52 weeks divided by 12 months = £433.33 per month
A 53-week rent year Rent £100.00 per week X 53 weeks divided by 12 months = £441.66 per month.

What do you need to do?

Check out the details below to find out what you need to do to keep your rent account in good shape.

  • If you pay your rent weekly, then you will continue to pay your rent weekly.

  • We will contact all customers who pay their rent monthly, to help prevent you going into rent arrears. 

  • If you receive Universal Credit (UC), the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will not cover the extra week of rent – you will need to pay it. When calculating UC, the DWP works out monthly rent by multiplying a week’s rent by 50 or 52 weeks depending on your tenancy, and dividing by 12. This is the case even when there is an extra week in the year.

  • If you are on full Housing Benefit, you don’t need to do anything. Housing Benefit will continue to pay your rent as normal. However, if your Housing Benefit doesn’t cover your full rent each month and you make up the additional payments, then you will need to increase your payments to pay for the additional week’s rent. If you don’t do this, you will have underpaid on your rent by 31 March 2025.

  • Contact us to amend your direct debit or alternatively, you can pay this now. Please contact us if you wish to do this

  • If you pay by standing order, you need to adjust your monthly payments yourself. To calculate how much rent, you should be paying each month.

  • If you have arrears or a court order, add your agreed repayment amount to the weekly rent before multiplying by 53 weeks.

  • If you would like any assistance relating to your benefits or your entitlement, we can help you. Please visit our cost-of-living guide to access support.

We understand that this might be a bit confusing but we’re here to help, so please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.