Housing Officer

This is an exciting time to join our Strategic Housing & Delivery Service as a Housing Officer. We are leading the way on a range of innovative programmes to help solve our local housing crisis, and over the next few years, the Council expects to deliver several hundred new homes for the benefit of local households in housing need. We have made great progress in our delivery ambitions over the last two years, and we’re beginning to see a change in the volume of future supply.

But we’ve reached the point where our Housing Management Team needs to grow, to enable us to help more tenants, and to ensure we are providing excellent quality customer service. As a result, we are looking to appoint an enthusiastic and motivated individual to the role of Housing Officer. This role will see you working alongside the Housing Manager with a responsibility for managing the social housing stock for Torbay Council.

This role involves providing a high-quality tenancy service providing advice and support in all housing functions including tenancy and estate management, lettings, voids and decants, rent and arrears and customer service, in accordance with our policies and procedures, and the requirements of the Regulator of Social Housing. As part of the role you will respond to a wide range of enquiries from residents in a prompt, efficient and courteous manner. You will help build and sustain resilience among our tenants and thereby safeguarding our tenants, our homes and the communities we are a part of.

You will work collaboratively with colleagues in the delivery of a high-quality housing management service that meets the identified needs of customers and the wider community. The successful candidate will also possess effective written and verbal communication skills, interpersonal skills, customer service skills, ability in the use of Word, Excel and Outlook and have a strong commitment to fairness, equality and diversity.

The ideal candidate will:

• Have ability to work with challenging people and situations.
• Be able to listen actively and non-judgementally.
• Be flexible and able to work individually and as part of a team.
• Have a proven experience of working in a social housing environment.
• Have good, up to date knowledge of social housing and law.
• Have knowledge of the role, and responsibility of the Regulator of Social Housing.
• Have working knowledge of relevant regulations and good practice.
• Have experience of implementing policies and procedure.
• Possess literacy and numeracy qualifications equivalent to C Grade in GCSE English and Maths.
• Have a Level 3 Qualification accredited by the Chartered Institute of Housing / NVQ level 3 in relevant area.
• Full current driving license.

This role can accommodate hybrid working and will also involve regular travel. We offer a host of benefits, such as flexible working; a commitment to your wellbeing; training and qualification support, and the Local Government Pension Scheme. Sometimes, there might be the need for you to work after traditional office hours but our flexi scheme means you’ll be entitled to take those hours back at a later date.

This post will be carrying out Regulated Activity. As such the post will require an Enhanced Criminal Record Check plus an additional Barred List Check. The check will reveal any spent and unspent convictions and adult cautions (which have not been filtered), any local Police information and a check of either the Adult, Child or Adult and Child Barred Lists.

Skills Essential:

• Excellent communication skills.
• Ability to prioritise workload and work under pressure.
• Good negotiation, interpersonal and presentation skills.
• Ability to work with challenging people and in difficult situations.
• Able to listen actively and non-judgementally.
• As this post meets the requirements of the Immigration Act 2016 (part 7), the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post.

Knowledge Essential:

• Understanding of the Competency Standards for Social Housing.
• Estate Management experience.
• Service User involvement and consultation.
• Relevant regulations and Good Practice.
• Knowledge of Housing Legislation, and welfare & benefits system.

Experience & Qualifications Essential:

• Proven experience of working to deadline and prioritising workloads.
• Proven experience of analysing and diagnosing problems and implementing solutions.
• Experience of working with tenants, tenant organisations and external agencies.
• Literacy and numeracy equivalent to passes in GCSE English and Maths.
• CIH accredited L3 Certificate in Housing, or acceptance that this will be completed as a condition of employment (paid by the Council).