Housing Assistant, Letham Area Office, Perth - PKC13330

Main Purpose of the Role

Working within Perth & Kinross Council is more than a job, it’s about being part of an organisation that puts people at the heart of all we do and provides opportunities to make a real difference by enhancing every life we touch. We currently have the following opportunity: Housing Assistant (Fixed Term until 31 October 2027) - PKC13330.

You will provide support for the Letham Locality Housing team based in Letham, Perth although there will be a requirement to work at other locations as and when required, delivering a comprehensive housing management service to our customers. The post involves contact and liaison with a wide range of contacts including staff, other council services, external agencies, customers, tenant representatives and elected tenants.

Main Accountabilities will include but are not restricted to:

• Provide housing information and advice across all main housing management services.
• Manage routine correspondence and maintain records relating to housing management services.
• Provide administrative support to Housing Officers, including typing letters, and arranging customer appointments filing.
• Monitor daily tenants’ rent accounts and provide advice and assistance to maximise tenants’ incomes, and arrange and monitor repayment plans for rent arrears.
• Enter information in Northgate, ensuring records are accurate and up to date, and retrieve and use this information as required.
• Prepare documents for sign up and assist in signing up new tenants as required, including ensuring sign-up documents are made available in advance and contain all the relevant information.
• Undertake customer satisfaction surveys through direct and indirect contact (telephone, postal surveys, exit interviews etc.) in the office and out in the neighbourhood.
• Carry out home visits in relation to a range of housing management services.
• Liaise with all relevant staff and teams in managing void properties, rent accounts and repairs, ensuring tenants receive the necessary support, an efficient high quality service and rent loss is minimised.

Skills & Experience Required

You will hold CIH Level 3 Certificate/ Diploma in Housing or equivalent / willing to work towards CIH Level 3. You must have a valid UK driving licence as this post requires you to travel to a variety of locations across Perth and Kinross.

The successful post-holder will be someone who:

• Gives a high priority to customer satisfaction.
• Respects and applies our customer service standards.
• Makes every effort to find out what the customer needs.
• Tries to exceed customer expectations.
• Promotes a professional image of self and the housing service.
• Applies confidentiality appropriately, taking account of data protection and other legal and regulatory requirements.
• Promotes the Council’s values and commitment to equality and diversity, promoting positive values and anti-discriminatory, non-judgemental practice.
• Treats colleagues and customers with dignity and respect in line with the Employee Charter and Code of Conduct.
• Is sensitive to cultural, gender and other staff/customer profiles in all aspects of service delivery.

Working at Perth & Kinross Council

Our values and behaviours influence our work and support us in the delivery of our key priorities. In your application, and should you be invited to interview, you will be asked to describe situations that support the criteria required in the role and which also demonstrate our values and behaviours.

Here’s what we can offer you:

• A generous annual leave package 6 days public holiday and an additional discretionary day.
• Eligibility to join our pension scheme.
• Family friendly and positive work/life balance policies such as Flexible Working, Maternity, Paternity & Adoption leave, time off for volunteering and our Wellbeing Framework.
• Flexi time.
• Access to a range of benefits.
• Paid SSSC annual membership for relevant positions.

We recognise there can be benefits to flexible working and where individual jobs allow, we seek to support this. You are encouraged to discuss potential options with the recruiting manager, if this is of interest to you. A healthy work life balance is important to us and we provide supportive management and, where possible, flexible working arrangements to help you achieve that balance. You will have access to training and support for continued professional development.

For purposes of connection and collaboration with colleagues and with the community we serve, our full-time employees work on site for a minimum of 2 days per week with the arrangements for part time employees being agreed on a basis which will ensure that they benefit to an equivalent degree.

We are committed to being a more inclusive employer - to ensure we can consider any reasonable adjustments, please either contact the recruiting manager to discuss any individual circumstances, discuss at interview or, if you prefer, after any conditional offer is made.

Next Steps

We would love to hear from you and would encourage you to get in touch with Sharon Kerr on 01738 476135 to find out more. External candidates are required to provide contact details for 2 referees, including email addresses. One of these must be your current or most recent employer. We welcome applications from everyone and as a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee to interview applicants who declare a disability and meet the essential requirements of the post.

Working with children and/or protected adults is regarded as a regulated role and under the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 you will be required to join the PVG Scheme or undergo a PVG Scheme update check. If you have lived overseas for a period of 12 months or more (continuous or total) within the last 10 years, an Overseas Criminal Record Check will be required. You will be required to provide this check. A confirmed offer of employment and commencement in the post will be subject to the outcome of the above mentioned mandatory pre-employment checks (including references) and will also include eligibility to work in the UK, qualifications and fitness to undertake the post.