Neighbourhood Officer

**Role**:Neighbourhood Officer

**Based**:Brixton

**Rate**: £20 - £24 ph depending on pay status

**Start Date**:ASAP

**Duration**:Temp 3 months

**Hours**: 35 hours Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm

Our client, a specialist domestic abuse charity is looking for a Neighbourhood Officer to join their team.

**Synopsis of duties**:

- Use a coaching approach to identify where tenants want to get to in life, this will help you design services that better support and empower tenants residing in around 210-280 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.
- Act will as an ambassador providing high-quality neighbourhood customer services and management services. Through actively working with tenants, partner agencies, housing benefit and DWP offices 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
- Organise and participate in Neighbourhood surgeries allowing for a proactive approach when meeting Housing Management service requirements,
- Provide a consistently outstanding service that demonstrates corporate values ensuring 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.
- 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
- Work 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.
- 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.
- Proactively make connections between customers and these organisations and you’ll use your coaching skills to help customers make these connections for themselves.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Identify and report safeguarding concerns relating to tenants, their families and other service users to the Head of Housing & I