Graduate Housing Officer in Blackburn

Role Overview

You will support the Neighbourhood Services Manager across Blackburn and Blackpool (Lancashire) to deliver high-quality housing services and contribute to strong, sustainable communities. You’ll assist with key housing management tasks such as rent arrears, allocations, anti-social behaviour, and neighbourhood upkeep. As you grow, you’ll take responsibility for your own patch and work toward ambitious personal and professional goals.

What you’ll be doing as a Housing Officer Graduate…

• Gain experience and understand a broad range of roles across your region and elsewhere including head office and in other departments; this may require you to travel and at times overnight stays in various locations.
• Encouraging customers to manage their rent independently and provide advice about the ways they can access financial help they might be entitled.
• Supporting customers to move into their new home including advertising the empty property, shortlisting potential new customers, liaising with repair colleagues to ensure the home is ready and providing guidance to the new customer in ensuring they have a successful start to their new tenancy.
• Having a regular presence within our communities to ensure our properties, blocks, schemes and streets are safe and attractive places to live. This will include monitoring the performance of our contractors and encouraging customers to take responsibility for their own behaviours when appropriate.
• Providing advice, guidance and effective resolutions to customer queries with a focus on getting it ‘right first time’.
• Signposting customers to other local and national services that can provide support with health, wellbeing, financial advice, digital inclusion and employment support.
• Developing strong partnerships with a range of partners and work collaboratively with other agencies to prevent anti-social behaviour.
• Providing project management support for a range of regional and corporate projects including Service Improvement Groups.
• Assisting in the data and evidence gathering to ensure we can respond appropriately to customer complaints with a focus on providing fair resolution and ensuring we learn when things have gone wrong.
• Representing Great Places in a professional manner with integrity, inclusivity and respect for diversity.
• Treating customers and colleagues with respect and empathy.
• Working 35 hours per week and having a flexible approach to work.

What You’ll Need…

• A minimum 2:2 achieved in the past 3 years, ideally within a relevant subject area.
• GCSE maths and English or equivalent at grade C/4 or above.
• A clean UK driving licence and access to a car is required to travel across our Lancashire patches.
• Experience of working in a customer focused environment, with a proven ability of delivering a high standard of customer service.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work as part of a team, as well as using your own initiative and time management skills to deliver tasks on time.
• Keen eye for detail and good organisational skills.
• Competent level of ICT skills including the full range of Microsoft applications and the ability to use technology such as a mobile phone, tablet and laptop.
• Commitment to completing all parts of the training programme.
• Commitment to observe and comply with all policies / procedures / working practices / regulations and in particular Great Places Equality and Diversity Policy, Health and Safety Policy and Safeguarding Policy.