Housing Officer - Portsmouth in Sussex

Portsmouth City Council is a unique organisation, committed to making a difference, and is guided by core values that set who we are as people, what we stand for, and how we act. We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people-focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join Portsmouth Homes as a Housing Officer and make a real difference! These are full-time roles (37 hours per week Monday to Friday) and we have permanent vacancies available as well as a Fixed Term Contract/Secondment for 9 months.

The Social Housing Sector has seen considerable change in the last 2 years with the addition of new and revised regulations including a new set of consumer standards. Portsmouth Homes is undertaking a programme of change to respond to the new environment and changes in expectations from our tenants and leaseholders. The Housing Officer role can be complex and requires the ability to work with changing priorities and be flexible in approach.

This role is responsible for the effective and efficient delivery of housing management services to a dedicated patch serving approximately 400 homes. The role provides generic housing management services including:

• Anti-social behaviour management
• Arrears management including debt and benefit advice
• Void management and lettings
• General tenancy management ensuring income maximisation
• Efficient letting of homes
• Providing great customer service throughout the tenancy

The Housing Officer role is a fully generic role delivering a comprehensive housing management service to a cohort of Portsmouth Homes tenants. The role is predominantly reactive, to help support and empower tenants to be able to sustain and maintain their tenancies and live their best lives, whilst feeling safe and secure in their homes and communities.

Responsibility starts with the viewing of an empty property, with prospective tenants, and the need to ensure that the property meets their Housing Need and is suitable in terms of other factors. Support is provided at the beginning of a new tenancy, ensuring that the new tenants understand their legal obligations and expectations of them as a tenant and good neighbour.

The Housing Officer then supports the tenant and their household in managing and sustaining their tenancy throughout its life, dealing with tenancy enforcement, including Anti-Social Behaviour, Money and Debt Advice and Income Collection, changes to personal circumstances and household makeup, and termination of tenancy or dealing with deceased estates. The role is a generic cradle to grave tenancy management service.

A Housing Officer must be multi-disciplined, with a high degree of responsibility, expectation and complexity, and the need to be able to manage conflicting priorities and react positively in crisis and chaotic situations. The Housing Officer will work closely with the Local Housing Manager to track and manage demand into the patch contributing to performance data where appropriate and using all tools available to inform priorities for each working day and to plan time and work ahead, where possible.

The Housing Officer is the main relationship manager with Portsmouth Homes Tenants and will act as the link between the tenant and other services as needed. The ability to keep pertinent and accurate records of all interactions with tenants on the tenancy record is essential ensuring that Portsmouth Homes maintains accurate data on its tenants and homes.

Please see the full job profile attached at the bottom of this page for all details of the role, responsibilities and the person we are looking for!

You must demonstrate why you are suitable against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person' points on the Job Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work/personal experience, which clearly illustrates what you did and the effect it had. If you apply without a detailed personal statement, it is unlikely that you will be successful.

Please note we reserve the right to close the advert early if we have a large number of applications. Previous applications need not apply. We are a disability confident employer and Armed Forces Covenant gold standard.

Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact the recruitment team.

If applying as a secondment you will need permission from your current line manager releasing you for this secondment. Please state you have this on your personal statement on the application. You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.

Read more about working at Portsmouth City Council and our benefits on our career's portal homepage.