Senior Private Sector Housing Officer in Guildford

We're recruiting an experienced and highly capable Senior Private Sector Housing Officer to join a Specialist Services team within a local authority. This is an excellent opportunity for a senior practitioner with strong enforcement experience to manage complex private sector housing cases and take a lead role in driving compliance and improving housing standards.

You will work across a varied and challenging caseload, acting as a subject-matter expert within Private Sector Housing. The role offers autonomy, responsibility, and the opportunity to contribute to enforcement activity, service improvement and quality assurance across regulatory services. The role will be delivered on a hybrid basis, with three days per week in the office and two days working from home. The successful candidate will be required to carry out site inspections and must therefore have access to their own vehicle.

The Role

• Manage complex and contentious private sector housing cases, inspections and applications, acting as the single point of contact for landlords, tenants and stakeholders.
• Carry out HMO licensing inspections, including assessment of licence applications, conditions and compliance.
• Prepare and serve Notices of Intention, licence documentation and related statutory notices.
• Undertake HHSRS assessments, including the assessment of hazards such as damp and mould.
• Carry out property inspections, investigations and site visits, gathering evidence and preparing case files for formal enforcement action.
• Serve Improvement Notices and take enforcement action in line with legislation and council policy.
• Calculate and apply Civil Penalty fines where appropriate, including preparation of supporting documentation.
• Deliver specialist advice, investigation and enforcement activity in line with statutory requirements, professional codes of practice and best practice guidance.
• Attend court, hearings or panels as required and present evidence on behalf of the authority.
• Provide technical guidance and professional advice to colleagues, caseworkers and customer service teams.
• Work collaboratively across the organisation and with external partners, agencies and stakeholders.
• Maintain accurate and compliant records across all relevant systems in line with data protection requirements.
• Contribute specialist input to projects, policy development, service improvement and quality assurance activity.
• Actively support performance management, reporting and service planning within Private Sector Housing.
• Participate in emergency planning, election duties and occasional out-of-hours work where required.

Key Requirements

• Proven experience working at a senior level within Private Sector Housing.
• Strong experience carrying out HMO licensing inspections and managing licensing processes.
• Demonstrable experience serving Notices of Intention, licences and statutory notices.
• Proficiency in completing HHSRS assessments, including identifying and assessing damp and mould hazards.
• Experience serving Improvement Notices and undertaking formal enforcement action.
• Experience calculating and applying Civil Penalty fines.
• Strong working knowledge of housing legislation, enforcement powers and regulatory frameworks.
• Experience managing complex casework, inspections and investigations with minimal supervision.
• Ability to prepare reports, evidence files and attend court or formal hearings where required.
• Confident using specialist housing and customer service systems to manage cases and maintain accurate records.
• Strong communication, negotiation and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Ability to work independently, prioritise workload and exercise sound professional judgement.
• Relevant qualification or equivalent professional experience within Private Sector Housing, Environmental Health or a related discipline.
• Ability to work on a hybrid basis with three days per week in the office.
• Access to a vehicle to carry out inspections and site visits.

What You Need to Do Now

If you are interested in this role and meet the criteria above, please click APPLY NOW and send us your application today. If you do not hear from us within 48 hours of applying, your application has been unsuccessful.

Footnote

If you feel that this job matches your skills but not the rate, location or seniority, please feel free to send us your CV anyway. We constantly recruit for similar roles across all levels, UK-wide, and would be pleased to speak with you confidentially about your employment status. Even if you're currently satisfied in your role, we welcome calls from Private Sector Housing, Environmental Health and Enforcement professionals looking to make future connections.