Home Ownership Officer (Collections) in London

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: SO2 £40,182-£42,060

Contract Type: Full-time/Permanent

Working hours per week: 36

Application Deadline: 24/08/2026

About Us: Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work. We are a highly ambitious borough, driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

About the role: This is a front-line position supporting leaseholders and shared owners by ensuring the effective collection of rent, service charges, major works costs and other homeowner income. You'll handle complex financial queries, resolve disputes, and provide clear, accessible advice on payments and lease terms. The role combines strong customer engagement with detailed financial work, requiring accuracy, confidence and the ability to explain complex information in plain English. You'll help maintain the Housing Revenue Account's financial health, work closely with internal teams, and represent the Council in formal settings such as the First-tier Tribunal or County Court. This is a fast-paced, varied role where your expertise directly supports residents and contributes to high-quality housing services.

Key Responsibilities:

• Maximise collection of rent, service charges, major works costs and other homeowner income to support the Housing Revenue Account.
• Manage complex financial disputes and enquiries relating to service charges and major works.
• Make accurate financial adjustments to homeowner accounts, including credits, debits, refunds and write-offs, in line with policy and regulations.
• Provide clear, accessible advice to leaseholders and shared owners on payments, welfare benefits, money management and lease obligations.
• Produce one-off invoices for charges recoverable under the lease.
• Monitor, identify and recover arrears, offering tailored debt advice and support where needed.
• Maintain accurate, up-to-date records across all relevant databases and systems.
• Work collaboratively with Finance and other teams to ensure charges reflect actual costs and comply with legislation.
• Represent the Council in formal settings such as the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) and County Court.
• Keep up to date with legislation, regulations and best practice relating to leasehold management and income recovery.
• Build strong working relationships with residents, colleagues and external partners, handling challenging situations with confidence and diplomacy.

Qualifications and Requirements:

• Strong knowledge of leases, service charges, major works processes and key leasehold legislation, particularly Sections 18-30 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
• Experience in income recovery, arrears management and resolving complex financial disputes.
• Practical understanding of welfare benefits, welfare reform and debt advice.
• Proven ability to work to strict deadlines, manage a busy caseload and maintain excellent attention to detail.
• Confident in carrying out complex financial calculations, including service charges, arrears arrangements and major works billing.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex information clearly and in plain English.
• Strong negotiation, influencing and customer-handling skills, including managing challenging conversations.
• Good IT skills, including Microsoft Word, Excel and the ability to use and update electronic databases effectively.
• Awareness of confidentiality, GDPR requirements and equality and diversity principles.
• Flexible approach to working hours, including occasional evenings or weekends, and ability to travel to sites when required.
• GCSE-level (or equivalent) numeracy and literacy; relevant professional qualifications are desirable.

Terms and conditions:

• Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks.
• Satisfactory declaration of interest.
• As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English.

Equal Opportunity Employer: Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives:

• Promoting equality of opportunity.
• Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage.
• Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels.
• Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent services to all.

Respecting Diversity is a core Council value. To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first.

If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

Contact Information: If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Cassandra Hall.

Fraud Awareness Notice: The London Borough of Waltham Forest only advertises vacancies via our official website and approved recruitment platforms. We will never ask for payment or request sensitive personal or financial information as part of our recruitment process.