Job Description

Job Title: Tenancy Management Officer

Contract: Full Time Permanent

Hours: 38 hours per week

Salary: £ 33,558 per annum

Location: NE London.

About Outward.

For 50 years, Outward has been providing high-quality support and care services to vulnerable people across London, predominantly in Northeast London. Established by families seeking alternatives to institutional care, we’ve grown into a respected provider of person-centred support for adults with learning disabilities, autism, mental health needs, and complex needs. We support over 1,000 people across nine boroughs, guided by our core values: engage, enable, and empower.

About the Role

We are looking for a proactive and passionate Tenancy Management Officer to join our dedicated team.

As a Tenancy Management Officer, you will play a key role in empowering tenants to live independently while providing a high-quality, sensitive, and person-centred housing management service. Deliver an efficient supported housing service across an allocated patch, ensuring compliance with organisational policies and procedures. Minimise void loss by managing the void turnaround process effectively and ensuring properties are ready to let within target timescales. Manage tenancies proactively, including investigating Anti-Social behaviour, taking appropriate tenancy enforcement action, and resolving tenancy related issues. Carry out property inspections to ensure the properties are well maintained, and health safety are met. Investigate cases of abandonment and unauthorised occupancy, taking appropriate action in line with policy. Ensure fire risk assessment actions and other health and safety tasks are completed promptly to maintain safe living environments for tenants. You will work towards targets and report regularly on performance to the Senior Supported Tenancy Manager and align with Outward’s core values of engage, enable, and empower.

Your Responsibilities

As a Tenancy Management Officer, you will:

· Minimise voids loss by efficiently managing the void turnaround process ensuring that voids are ready to be let within target timescales.

· Work collaboratively with support providers to coordinate referrals, arrange viewing and conduct joint assessments to ensure individuals are suitable for the service and the accommodation meets their needs.

· Take responsibility for the allocation and sign-up process in consultation with partner agencies, ensuring that tenant selection complies with any contractual arrangements or nomination agreements.

· Explain the terms of the occupancy agreement to new residents and support them to understand their rights and obligations under that agreement.

· Induct the resident into their new home explaining equipment use, contact points for emergencies and the occupants’ responsibilities with regard to health & Safety, and carry out a follow up home visit within a maximum of 28 days.

· Maximise receipt of rent and service charge income by ensuring that housing benefit claims are set up and maintained, including; liaison with housing benefit, tenants and support providers.

· Provide housing related support to residents at risk of losing their tenancies and where appropriate work with other professionals to prevent evictions, including attendance at multi-disciplinary team meetings and signposting to other agencies for advice.

· Take formal tenancy enforcement action where required including issuing notices, monitoring compliance and seeking legal advice and support from the SSHM and attending court when required.

· Liaise and work with support providers on such issues as unauthorised occupancy /abandonment/squatting, harassment, domestic violence, neighbour nuisance and Anti-Social behaviour adopting a joint approach that seeks to sustain tenancies where possible.

· To ensure that all administration connected with tenancy termination is completed and all systems updated.

· Carry out regular property inspections; report repairs identified and be pro-active in following up to ensure completion and where the standard of work is inadequate escalate to the landlord.

· Carry out H&S functions, for example, fire alarm testing, water hygiene checks and regular H&S inspections and take the necessary follow-up actions.

· Follow up actions required from fire risk assessments carried out within agreed timescales liaising with the landlord as necessary and ensuring GOPAD is fully updated.

· Plan service charge expenditure for your sites and purchase furniture and equipment within the allocated budgets consulting with tenants and support providers where appropriate.

· Work with the SSHM to monitor service charge expenditure for your patch and assist with producing service charge calculations at annual review.

· monitor the performance of contractors (e.g. gardening, cleaning) to ensure that the communal areas are clean and always inviting for tenants and visitors and that a high standard of cleanliness is maintained.

· Report any safeguarding concerns promptly in accordance with organizational policies, procedures, and statutory safeguarding requirements, always ensuring the safety and wellbeing of individuals.

· As a minimum carry out an annual property audit across all properties on your allocated patch.

Requirements

Essential Criteria

· Excellent communication building positive relationships with tenants, colleagues, internal and external stakeholders

· Customer service providing professional, empathetic, and responsive support to residents

· Tenancy Management – Managing voids and lettings, assessing referrals, sign-up tenancies

· Conflict resolution handling disputes, complaints, and Anti-Social behaviour fairly and effectively.

· Problem solving assessing situation and finding practical, lawful solutions.

· Organisation and time management managing a varied caseload, prioritising tasks, and meeting deadlines.

· Knowledge of housing legislation and tenancy law

· Safeguarding awareness and risk management and making appropriate referrals

· Conducting property inspections

· Record keeping and report writing

· Risk assessment and case management

· Good IT skills

· Resilience and the ability to remain calm under pressure

• Knowledge of health and safety issues within supported housing or care environments
• Understanding of confidentiality, GDPR, and data protection principles
• Staff must have access to a smartphone capable of receiving SMS messages and installing authentication apps for secure systems access [this must be included]
• Right to Work in the UK. Please note: Outward will not provide visa sponsorship.
• Ability to write clear, concise letters and reports
• Able to plan and organise own workload and meet deadlines
• Experience of general administration and record keeping including electronic records.
• Ability to develop collaborative partnerships to promote joint working, best practice and consistency of service delivery
• Experience of working under pressure to meet specific targets
• Experience of effectively managing and responding to complaints.
• The ability to provide welfare benefit and debt management advice.
• The ability to attend court and represent the landlord for possession hearings.

• An understanding of and, commitment to equal opportunities in service delivery and employment.
• A good understanding of the supported housing sector and the delivery of housing related support.

· An understanding of and commitment to resident consultation and involvement.

· The ability to work both as part of a team and independently.

· Multi-agency working with support service, local authorities and other professionals

Desirable Criteria

· CIH Level 4 in housing management or equivalent

· Negotiation and mediation skills

· Competence in using housing management systems (e.g. Dynamics, CX, SharePoint and Microsoft Office

How to Apply

The above is not an exhaustive list of requirements for the role.

If you think you are who we are looking for, please submit a CV and statement detailing how you feel your experiences meets the requirements of the role by referring to the Job Responsibilities and the Person Specification.

There is no specific closing date for this advert. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a sufficient number of suitable applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible. It would be great to hear from you.

Benefits

We value everything our staff do for the people we support, so we provide a great benefits package:

• 25 days Annual Leave excluding Bank Holidays (pro rata for part time)
• Comprehensive Learning & Development Programme

• Cycle-to-Work Scheme
• Death in Service Benefit
• Health Assured – Employee Assistance Programme
• Eye care Vouchers
• Flu Jab Reimbursement
• Pension Scheme
• Purchase Additional Annual Leave
• Refer-a-Friend Scheme

Diversity and Safeguarding at Outward:

We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community.

Outward applies its Equal Opportunities Policy at all stages of recruitment and selection. Shortlisting, interviewing and selection is carried out without regard to gender, sexual orientation, marital status, colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origins, religion or belief, age or trade union membership.

As an employer, who aspire to become Disability Confident Committed, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview. Please indicate clearly at the beginning of your supporting statement if you have a disability (as defined by the Equality Act 2010), and you wish to be considered for an Offer Of an Interview (OOI) Please note that the OOI is available to disabled candidates only. Regrettably, any false declaration of disability in order to secure an interview will impact on your overall application.