Empty Property Enforcement Officer

Westminster City Council

Empty Property Enforcement Officer

Reference: WCC614681

Job Details:

Salary range: £40,005 - £54,135 per annum
Work location: Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, Westminster, SW1E 6QP 
Hours per week: 36 
Contract type: Temporary up to 24 months
Closing date: 21 March 2024
Contact details for Informal discussion: Geraint Maddocks, Team Leader (Property Licensing), via email: GMADDOCKS@WESTMINSTER.GOV.UK

Apply link: https://careers.newjob.org.uk/WCC/job/Westminster-Empty-Property-Enforcement-Officer-WCC614681-LND/1039502801/

About Us:

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE POWER OF EMPOWERMENT
Environmental Health at Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories, where passionate and expert professionals go above and beyond for their communities every day. 
Natasha started her career in the NHS. She came to Westminster to do more for vulnerable people. When a family in her community reached out to her after their heating was cut off, Natasha took their situation seriously. Living in terrible conditions, and reaching desperation, they had nowhere else to turn. Natasha stepped in, holding the landlord to account and getting them to improve conditions for the family. These are the moments that make her the proudest. Now, she uses her expertise and experience to empower others.

The Role:

As an Environmental Health Officer specialising in empty properties, you can make your own powerful contribution to improving communities and providing fairer housing for all across the city. You will work at the forefront of a project aimed at bringing empty properties back into use and tackling the problems that they cause.  As well as removing a valuable source of housing from our community, empty properties often have a negative effect on adjacent properties and the surrounding area by suffering from disrepair, vandalism and pests, and attracting antisocial behaviour.

 
You will work as part of a team of Residential Environmental Health Officers, taking the lead in reducing the number of empty properties.  Managing your own portfolio of cases, you will engage with property owners and, where necessary, take enforcement action to bring about improvements and to encourage re-occupation of empty homes.  You can expect to deal with a range of different stakeholders including landlords, agents and government departments. You will often be working to tight deadlines. 
Please refer to the Job Description for more information

About You:

This role would suit an experienced Environmental Health Officer with a strong interest in housing issues or a housing professional looking for a new challenge. You’ll be used to delivering a customer-facing role, responding to complaints and working with a range of agencies. This will include gathering information and evidence to support legal action.  Strong interpersonal skills are important, including the ability to listen to others and influence their behaviour. You will be capable of building trusted relationships quickly. Planning and managing your own workload, and working with minimal supervision are also vital.

Closing date: 21 March 2024.
Contact details for Informal discussion: Geraint Maddocks, Team Leader (Property Licensing), via email: GMADDOCKS@WESTMINSTER.GOV.UK

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. 
Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.
At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit  https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-strategy-policies-and-reports/equality-duties
As a forward-thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.
The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.