Housing Officer
Havering is the easternmost London borough, bordered by Essex to the North and East, the River Thames to the south and the boroughs of Redbridge and Barking & Dagenham to the west. It is one of the largest boroughs in Greater London with a population of 257,000, over 7000 businesses and an area of approximately 40 miles.
Havering is a great place to work, with a vibrant culture, innovative approach and at its centre is the historic market town of Romford.
The Resident Services Team is responsible for assisting tenants to sustain their tenancies and encourage and facilitate their independence, quality of life, safeguarding and health and well-being on a wide range of issues including housing, welfare rights, personal finance, hoarding, tenancy management, mediation, life skills and the promotion of personal independence.
We also develop an holistic picture of each resident so as to be the principal point of contact for other council departments in actively trying to resolve issues / blockages such as gas access, hoarding, tenancy fraud, safeguarding.
The post holder will act as the principle point of contact for a local area, estate or patch or group of residents so that the environment and condition that residents experience is well maintained to a high quality.
We are a highly motivated and high achieving team and we are looking for an additional Housing Officer with Tenancy Management experience to complete our busy team.
2 x Housing Officer
Grade 6- £30,711 to £33,948pa
36 hours per week, full time permanent
The work is both challenging and rewarding you will charged with maintaining an excellent and seamless service by working with partners and other internal and external services.
The post holder will report to the Resident Services Manager providing services to our customers through the following key objectives:
• To establish and maintain effective working relationships with all work colleagues to ensure a one team approach to the delivery of our services whilst meeting individual and team key performance indicators and targets.
• To engage with appropriate internal and external agencies in agreeing and implementing support / action plans in providing a tenancy support service to new and existing tenants to sustain tenancies and reduce homelessness in particular; Neighbourhood Sustainment, Income Management, Adult Social Care and Children’s Services and Mental Health to deliver a seamless service.
• Work and build strong partnership links with other agencies to include determining risk, providing support to include mental health cases, domestic violence, drug and alcohol misuse, disability to include attendance at multi-agency meetings.
• Actively work alongside other Internal Departments to undertake casework regarding breaches of tenancy conditions including ASB, harassment, domestic violence, hate crime and nuisance to include attendance in Court.
• To work with key internal and external partners and stakeholders, demonstrating influencing and problem solving qualities in the delivery of excellent tenant and leasehold management services and the sustainability of tenancies and neighbourhoods.
• To work collaboratively with the Income Team to tackle arrears and to support vulnerable residents.
• Advise residents on tenant and landlord roles in accordance with the tenancy/lease conditions.
You will work within the Resident Services Team and have experience of working in social housing, tenancy management or similar public sector role, dealing with complex casework face to face and in writing, experience of developing relationships with wide range of local stakeholders and partners, providing good tenancy, housing and leasehold advice, best practice and compliance is desirable.
With a proven track record of successful multi agency working, you will be outcome focused, clear thinking and have excellent written and verbal communication skills. You will also be a skilled and effective negotiator and problem solver.
You will have excellent IT skills, in particular Microsoft Excel.
To meet the requirements of this key role, you must be customer focused, able to work on defined operational projects, interpret complex housing related legislation and guidance and be able to meet tight deadlines.
The post holder will be required to work 36 hours per week or as required by the Line Manager to meet the needs of the service
The London Borough of Havering is a Disability Confident employer. Candidates who declare that they have a disability in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 and meet the essential criteria as specified in the Job Profile will be guaranteed an interview.
Priority consideration on all advertised roles will be given to London Borough of Havering Redeployees.
The London Borough of Havering is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable groups and expects staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Please be aware that a Disclosure and Barring Scheme (DBS) check will be required for any position with access to these groups under the provision of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
In addition, the Authority reserves the right to request employees undertake a basic disclosure check (Disclosure Scotland) where required for the role this includes anyone who has access to (or information obtained directly from) a government database, or has a GCSX account. These posts will be required to have a Basic Disclosure Scotland check as per the requirements of BPSS (Baseline Personnel Security Standards).
Should you require any help or advice with your online application, please contact the Recruitment Help Desk on: 01708 432770
For an informal discussion about the post, please contact John Smith, Resident Services Manager on 01708 433756
The closing date for the receipt of applications is 15th January 2020.
However, interest in this job may be high and we therefore reserve the right to close the vacancy early.
You will be notified if your application has been successful. Interview date to be confirmed.