Portsmouth City Council Housing Service manages over 17,000 council owned and leasehold properties in Portsmouth and Havant making it the largest social landlord in that area. The service we provide includes carrying out repairs and maintenance, maximising rental income, undertaking grounds maintenance and cleaning, providing tenancy support and tackling anti-social behaviour.

As a service we take pride in our work by valuing others, focusing on what's important so that we make a real and positive difference. Our values are outlined in our Ways of Working and our Guiding Principles and if they reflect how you are and how you work then this could be the role that meets your expectations.

What is the role?

As one of our housing officers you will be responsible for delivering housing management on a patch of local authority homes. You will need to listen to the demands of the customer, responding appropriately and tailoring your approach to the needs of different client groups. You will need to provide support and help for our customers to help manage and sustain their tenancy. This will include visiting our customers in their own homes. A key element of this role is to help customers to meet their responsibilities to pay rent and ensure they meet their obligations as a tenant, taking appropriate action where the tenancy agreement is not complied with.

This varied and challenging role involves dealing with a broad section of the local community and relies on close partnership working with both internal and external agencies, such as the Police, Social Services and other local authorities. You must be able to prioritise your time to ensure that you can respond to a range of competing priorities such as maximising rental income, dealing with reported anti-social behaviour and tenancy management issues such as breaches of tenancy conditions. Housing Officers are also required to attend court hearings and represent the interests of the Housing Service with minimal legal representation.

There is a requirement to be prepared to work outside normal office hours. During these times you may attend residents' meetings or seek contact with customers who have not responded to you during office hours.

If successful in your application you will be based at one of the seven Area Housing Offices, and will join an experienced and effective Housing Officer team in a challenging environment delivering essential frontline services.

Who is the person?

You need to:

1. Have experience of working in a challenging front-line service and be comfortable visiting customers in their home.

2. Be able to effectively manage and respond to the issues experienced by customers, which arise on a patch of local authority properties and assist in resolving those problems to sustain the tenancy.

3. Have the ability to communicate effectively at all levels, from the most socially disadvantaged tenant to a senior professional including MPs and local ward Councillors.

4. Be able to assertively engage with customers to fully understand their financial and personal circumstances, so that you can provide support and advice to enable them to meet their responsibilities as a tenant

5. Have sufficient knowledge of the welfare benefit system to help customers maximise their income and ensure they are in receipt of all benefits they are entitled to.

6. Be proficient at letter and report writing (you will be required to prepare documents that may be used in case conferences or as evidence in court).

7. Be confident to speak in public (you will be required to represent the local authority housing service at court hearing, without legal representation at times, and at multi agency case conferences)

8. Be able to work independently or as part of a team using your own initiative and judgement to find appropriate and effective solutions to the various issues that may arise on your patch.

9. Understand what it is to be part of a team, how to develop your role within a team and how to help build and support the team in which you are based.

10. Be able to identify and pull resources to you to help you achieve results for our customers.

11. Be competent using a variety of IT systems such as Excel and other office applications.

12. Be proactive in improving your skills and knowledge to help effectively perform your role.

13. Be flexible as you may be required to work from any of the 7 area housing offices and carry out occasional out of office hours working.

14. Have a current driving licence and daily use of a vehicle.


Closing time/date: 17th November 2014 12 midday Applications received after this may not be considered. The assessment will take place on the 20 November 2014 and interviews will take place on the 21 November 2014.
Posts available (please specify which post you are applying for):

• 2 x permanent posts • 1 x fixed term contract / secondment to cover maternity leave for up to 1 year starting from January 2015 Job share will be considered - if you are interested in job share please state this on your application.