Address
Form of work
Salary
We are currently seeking a Neighbourhood Officer to join our join our friendly and hard-working team on a permanent, full-time basis, working 35 hours per week.
This is an incredible opportunity for a compassionate individual with experience preparing and presenting cases to Court for breach of tenancy to join our life-changing organisation.
We are a small organisation with big ambition looking for people with passion, energy and drive to help us transform. We believe that by providing quality, affordable homes for women, we can help to create a truly more equal society. So, if you want to help us empower women and challenge the inequalities they face to create a fairer, better world, then apply today.
The Role
As a Neighbourhood Officer, you will provide high-quality neighbourhood customer services and management services to our tenants.
Using a coaching approach to support our tenants, you will design services that better support and empower them, including vulnerable women and older tenants, advocating on their behalf.
You will utilise resources within the local neighbourhood and have honest and sometimes difficult life skills conversations with tenants that enable them to make more informed choices in their lives.
Additionally, you will:
- Organise and participate in neighbourhood surgeries
- Ensure compliance with arrears and income policies
- Manage service-related complaints and queries
- Conduct regular inspections of properties
- Support tenants with referrals and application forms
- Identify and deal with abandoned properties and tenancy fraud
About You
To be considered as a Neighbourhood Officer, you will need:
- Experience of Social Housing Management
- Experience preparing and presenting cases to Court for breach of tenancy, including DIY possession procedures
- Knowledge of Landlord and Tenant legislation and procedure
- Knowledge of current issues in the provision of social housing, including Welfare Benefits and Welfare Reform & Work Act 2016
- Good verbal and written communication skills
- A recognised qualification at HNC level or higher
Candidates interested in applying should attach a cover letter outlining how they meet the essential criteria specified in the person specification as well as how they think they meet Housing for Women’s EPIC values.
Housing for Women is an independent organisation and we support women in London to challenge the inequalities they face. As a charity and a registered housing association, we are proud to have housed London’s women for 85 years; providing secure, affordable housing and related services to help them make the most of the opportunities they have.
Overall Aim
- As a Neighbourhood Officer you will use a coaching approach to identify where our tenants want to get to in life, this will help you design services that better support and empower our tenants residing in around 210-280 H4W households including vulnerable women and older tenants.
- Utilising resources within the local neighbourhood and having honest and sometimes difficult life skills conversations with customers that enable them to make more informed choices in their lives is a key aspect of this role.
- Our Officers will also act as an ambassador for H4W providing high-quality neighbourhood customer services and management services. Through actively working with tenants, partner agencies, housing benefit and DWP offices our Officers will ensure compliance with arrears and income policies at all times.
- Ensuring that tenants’ needs are identified at the earliest possible stage and prompt action is taken will prevent the escalation of problems. Our Officers will organise and participate in Neighbourhood surgeries allowing for a proactive approach when meeting Housing Management service requirements, KPI’s and LPI’s.
- Our supportive Officers will be flexible, they will spend most of their time getting to know their tenants in their own homes and willing to go the extra mile and work outside of 9 to 5 hours when needed.
Key Responsibilities
Customer Focus
- To provide a consistently outstanding service that demonstrates H4W’s corporate values ensuring our properties are well presented and maintained.
- To ensure that all neighbourhood management services are delivered in accordance with specified standards and agreed policies and procedures to the tenants within the Neighbourhood Officer’s area of responsibility.
- To take ownership and responsibility for any service related complaints / queries from customers ensuring that the customer experience is positive, professional and within set timescales at all times.
- Working in partnership with the Direct Labour Operative and conduct pre-advertised regular inspections to the properties in the patch in order to ensure that estate services such as cleaning, caretaking, ground maintenance and routine maintenance of communal areas have been carried out to specified standards and to take remedial action where they have not and to identify any additional repairs/works that need to be undertaken.
- Ensure all the KPI and LPI targets and objectives are met.
- Organise and participate in Neighbourhood surgeries.
Partnership working
- To identify and get to know various agencies, groups and businesses in the local area that might help your tenants achieve what they want out of life. You’ll proactively make connections between customers and these organisations and you’ll use your coaching skills to help customers make these connections for themselves.
- When needed you will also support the women with referrals and application forms, signposting them to external services such as local authority, social services, local OT, hospital OT services, general practitioners, nurses, health visitors, charities such as Age UK or others as necessary. You will also monitor the progress and liaise with appropriate agencies to ensure those identified needs are met.
- To advocate on behalf of older tenants with health and social services where necessary to ensure tenants receive an acceptable level of service and care appropriate to their needs. To assist older tenants in getting their voices heard for statutory agencies.
- In particular the Neighbourhood Officer will liaise with local authority, housing benefit and DWP to bring to their attention any relevant problems experienced by the tenant’s benefits to which they are entitled or any other housing related issue.
Tenancy and Income Management
- Identifying and dealing with abandoned properties and tenancy fraud. Minimise losses from empty properties by managing the voids process and actively working with colleagues to minimise void periods.
- Monitor and manage arrears in allocated patch including preparing and presenting cases to courts with regards to Breaches of Tenancy and evictions.
- Undertake all visits to the home as required for starter tenancies (including 6 week, 6 month and 9 month tenancy home visits), and undertake tenancy reviews and all stages of the process ensuring accurate records are kept of actions and decisions taken.
- To ensure a speedy and focussed response to anti-social behaviour and other breaches of tenancy conditions. Action to be realistic, fast and efficient and supported by an effective action plan.
- Support the Head of Housing & Income Services with delivery against all Management Agreements and joint working with other landlords, to ensure obligations are met. Producing annual cost and expenditure reviews to ensure the contracts / agreements produce a surplus or are cost neutral.
- To ensure that the Head of Housing & Income Services is kept fully informed about issues arising within the Neighbourhood Officer’s patch and to agree appropriate courses of action to resolve more complex estate and tenancy management matters, including;
- Take of legal action when appropriate for any breaches of Tenancy
- Preparing and presenting cases at court representing H4W as an organisation
- Providing monthly progress reports, highlighting trends and exceptions
- Demonstrating compliance with procedures
Safeguarding and Health and Safety
- To identify and report safeguarding concerns relating to tenants, their families and other service users to the Head of Housing & Income Services and raising safeguarding concerns with the relevant statutory service, including using professional judgement to raise alerts.
- To comply with all aspects of the Association’s Health and Safety policy, including enabling access for annual gas servicing and ensuring that any potential risks or breaches are reported to the Head of Housing & Income Services.
Other
- You will work closely with the Head of Housing & Income Services in delivering the Customer Engagement Strategy.
- To work with H4W’s Fundraising Manager to plan and deliver externally funded projects such as the decorating project for older tenants, and also lunch clubs, outings and digital inclusion projects.
- To work with the Volunteer Coordinator to recruit, manage and support Befriending Volunteers, to provide a befriending service to isolated, disabled or housebound older tenants.
- Work with customers to develop the priorities for minor works and environmental improvements, making particular reference to the requirements for adaptations to communal areas both internally and externally to improve accessibility.
- Co-ordinating tenant mobility via Homes scheme or equivalent, internal transfer, mutual exchange and local authority nominations etc.
- To make best use of information and other technology to ensure an enhanced service to tenants and/or increased operational efficiency. To maintain and assist in maintaining where appropriate, relevant files, records, IT and other systems to ensure information is up to date and can be accessed and understood by others.
- To positively support the Association’s Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies in all aspects of work.
Please also be aware of and follow Housing for Women’s policies and procedures, with particular attention to health and safety, data protection, equality and diversity and customer service excellence. To further your development and knowledge you will be expected to attend training as necessary.
Housing for Women reserves the right to amend this role profile as necessary, after consultation with the post holder, to reflect changes in or to the role.
Role Experience, Knowledge and Skills Profile
Experience & qualifications - Essential (E) Desirable (D)
- Good standard of general education with a recognised qualification at HNC level or higher E
- Strong experience of Social Housing Management E
- Experience preparing and presenting cases to Court for breach of tenancy including DIY possession procedures E
- Experience of effective management of rent arrears. E
- Experience of using a computerised rent account systems and database. D
- An awareness of occasions that require liaison with Social Services (eg child protection, domestic violence) D
- Demonstrable experience of older persons issues
- Ability to meet deadlines and plan and deliver a range of different activities E
- Experience of meeting challenging targets E
Knowledge
- Working knowledge of Landlord and Tenant legislation and procedure relating to both general tenancy and other tenures E
- Excellent knowledge of current issues in the provision of social housing including Welfare Benefits and Welfare Reform & Work Act 2016. E
Skills
- Effective listening to seek to understand E
- Good verbal and non-verbal communication skills with ability to: communicate messages and information clearly, confidently and in engaging ways E
- Can situationally adjust communication to meet the needs of the audience E
- Deal effectively with harassment and nuisance complaints E
- Provides timely meaningful and constructive feedback to customers and colleagues
- Strong negotiation and mediation skills to liaise with residents to reduce debt
- Demonstrates fairness, promotes dignity and respect, and adheres to Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies
- Build rapport that encourages active participation and enable others to express ideas and opinions
- Demonstrable ability to write letters and reports and to maintain accurate records
- Demonstrable knowledge and experience of using Microsoft Office or equivalent, including use of Word and Excel
- Strong 'people skills' for building relationships with team members, colleagues and key contacts E
- Ability to maintain confidentiality
- Able to work on own initiative be proactive, juggle competing demands and problem solve and to ‘muck in’.
- First class customer service skills (telephone, written and face-to-face)
- Able to meet tight deadlines
- To actively manage a caseload
- Able to prioritise and organise time effectively.
- To document work systematically and present clear and concise written and verbal reports.
- Ability to develop, implement and monitor continuous improvement and project plans E
Personal style and behaviour
- An approach to work that is thorough, open, curious and professional E
- Team focused and openly supports colleagues and managers to achieve success
- Works flexibly and cross-functionally, to achieve success with shared goals E
- Has a particular regard for attention to detail
- Shares knowledge and information appropriately to inform and empower
- Confident and calm approach to work
- Customer focused E
- Self-starter and proactively seeking to positively respond to the needs of customers
- Takes personal responsibility and ensures fairness within decision making
- Able to self-reflect to inform continuous learning E
- Personal commitment to the corporate values, vision and objectives of the organisation
- Lead by example (be a role model) – make your behaviour consistent with your words
- Flexible ‘can do’ attitude.
- A high degree of confidently, trust and reliability at all times
- Commitment to quality, delivering excellent customer service, best practice and best value in all aspects of the H4W’s operations
Other requirements
- Current driving license and use of a vehicle during normal working hours desirable
- A high degree of confidentiality, trust and reliability E
- Commitment to quality, customer service, best practice and best value in all aspects of the organisation’s operations
- Evidenced commitment to equality and diversity E
