Income Officer Housing Advice Service in London

The London Borough of Sutton is situated less than 30 minutes by train from Central London, with direct connections to London Victoria and London Bridge. Found in zone 5 with good transport links in and out of London, Sutton boasts award winning parks and open spaces, low crime rates, affordable housing and great schools. As well as high levels of resident engagement and satisfaction, providing quality services and success in addressing our financial challenges, whilst involving residents in key issues and high street changes.

Sutton is continuously investing in the health, wellbeing and education of our residents and the future generation, as set out in the “Ambitious for Sutton” corporate plan. We are home to the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research. Together with the development of the London Cancer Hub, Sutton will be the world’s leading life-science district, specialising in cancer research and treatment. Our vision will create around 13,000 jobs while contributing £1.2bn to the UK economy each year, a vibrant community of scientists, doctors and innovative companies intended to deliver real benefits for cancer patients and drive economic growth.

With the regeneration of the local areas with new homes and schools, Sutton is passionate about working closely with our residents and vulnerable groups to help them maintain their independence and create a balance between support and independent living. The Council is seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment. As we strive to improve our services and spaces for our residents as set out in the ‘Ambitious for Sutton’ corporate plan, Sutton aims to shape the future of the borough and adapt to the needs of its residents to make our Borough a great place to live, work and raise a family.

Responsible for monitoring your own patch of clients - meeting face to face to build your client relationship. Raising rent arrears letters in line with our current policies and procedures - for nightly paid accommodation and knowledge of the NTQ process for some of the accommodations where clients have a licence. Knowledge of benefits to assist clients maximise their income. Assisting clients to make their HB claims.

Knowledge of Part 6 & 7 of the Housing Act. Raising Rent Arrears Actions. Income & Expenditure assessments. Achieving Key Performance Indicators as set across the areas of Nightly Paid Accommodation.

Experience of income recovery. Sound knowledge of mathematics. Experience of working in housing - a basic knowledge of the legislative framework. Worked within key performance indicators. Experience of benefits.

We are the Income Team based within Housing Advice Service at the London Borough of Sutton - consisting of a Team Leader, 3 Income Officers and a Finance Officer. We are a delivery focused team working with clients that are going through the Homeless Journey - the Income Officers are responsible for patches of clients - working with arrears and income collection.

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 26-32 days plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade.
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave.
• Two volunteering days per year.
• Flexible working - Smarter Working Scheme (dependent on the role).
• Adjustable and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks.
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses.
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres.
• Interest free season ticket loans.
• Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme.
• Electric vehicle leasing scheme.
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support.

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from underrepresented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda. We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role.

As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.