Housing Officer

at  Longhurst Group

Are you a Housing professional with a background in anti-social behaviour, and looking for an exciting new role within an organisation committed to improving lives? Are you driven by a challenge, and wanting to be part of a dynamic team, working collectively to deliver an efficient tenancy & estate management service? If so, our Housing Officer role could be the perfect job for you…
Longhurst Group is a leading housing Group across the Midlands & East of England, committed to enhancing communities and improving the lives of both our colleagues and customers. With a mission to provide quality, safe, affordable housing that build great foundations for our customers, our Housing Services team are critical to ensuring our customers are supported in their homes to successfully sustain their tenancies and build communities they feel proud to be a part of.

As a Housing Officer, you will be responsible for providing a high-level housing service for our Customers across Kings Lynn (and surrounding areas), ensuring that they always receive an excellent service. You’ll be working with our customers, engaging them and providing opportunities to be involved in their neighbourhoods, ultimately aiming to make a positive difference to the quality of life for people and communities. Further key responsibilities are listed below:

• Lead, manage and review complaints of anti-social behaviour, race and hate crime incidents and hoarding - working alongside the Tenancy Enforcement Team and ASB specialists across the Group.
• Ensure that potential safeguarding issues (including tenants who have suffered domestic abuse) involving both adults and children are identified and managed in partnership with other agencies.
• Manage all tenancies in accordance with our policies and procedures, completing new tenant visits to ensure the tenant has moved in and is complying with the terms of their tenancy. Where required, engage with our Tenancy Enforcement Team to initiate legal action for any breaches of tenancy, attending court and evictions as required.
• Help to identify and support local initiatives which add social value; encouraging community cohesion and working in partnership with our Customer Service team to help customers to develop skills to gain training, education and employment.

In order to be successful in application for our Housing Officer role, you’ll need a strong knowledge of Housing Law, and a background of dealing with anti-social behaviour cases, legislation and legal processes. Having previous experience of preparing legal paperwork, engaging with legal practitioners and attending court hearings is also a must, along with good digital skills across Microsoft packages.
Our Housing Officer role is a hybrid position, contracted to 36.25 hours per week. To us, this means travel across Kings Lynn and the surrounding areas supporting our customers for the majority of the week, with some time working from home too. You will also have a weekly presence in our Boston office, but we are open to discussion around how this is built into working weeks.
This is a hugely exciting time to join Longhurst Group – not only are we continuously striving to achieve better results for our customers, but the Social Housing sector is at a crucial point with new measures, legislations and standards coming into effect imminently. Our Housing Officer opportunity will help to develop and enhance your knowledge in Social Housing, and offers fantastic career progression opportunities. We offer a supportive and inclusive working environment that values your contributions, along with access to ongoing professional development opportunities, ensuring your skills remain at the cutting edge of the industry.

VETTING REQUIREMENTS

The important things - We can only consider applications from candidates who have the right to live and work in the UK. All shortlisted candidates will need to verify eligibility to work in the UK at interview. If you are the successful candidate, original proof must then be provided before your first day.
Naturally working with our customers, we need to complete pre-employment checks before you join us. This role is conditional upon receipt of two satisfactory references (one from your current employer). We also need you to tell us what you have been up to over the past 5 years as a minimum in terms of employment history. This could include carer duties, travel, seeking work, education, employment, training, or volunteering.

As a Housing Officer, you will be responsible for providing a high-level housing service for our Customers across Kings Lynn (and surrounding areas), ensuring that they always receive an excellent service. You’ll be working with our customers, engaging them and providing opportunities to be involved in their neighbourhoods, ultimately aiming to make a positive difference to the quality of life for people and communities. Further key responsibilities are listed below:

• Lead, manage and review complaints of anti-social behaviour, race and hate crime incidents and hoarding - working alongside the Tenancy Enforcement Team and ASB specialists across the Group.
• Ensure that potential safeguarding issues (including tenants who have suffered domestic abuse) involving both adults and children are identified and managed in partnership with other agencies.
• Manage all tenancies in accordance with our policies and procedures, completing new tenant visits to ensure the tenant has moved in and is complying with the terms of their tenancy. Where required, engage with our Tenancy Enforcement Team to initiate legal action for any breaches of tenancy, attending court and evictions as required.
• Help to identify and support local initiatives which add social value; encouraging community cohesion and working in partnership with our Customer Service team to help customers to develop skills to gain training, education and employment