housing officer jan 17 - hexagon housing association · about hexagon hexagon is an innovative and...

Recruitment Pack

Housing Officer -

Supported Housing

Part-time

January 2017

Contents

Page

Welcome letter 3

About Hexagon 4

About the Housing Services Team 6

Job description 7

Person specification 9

Organisation chart – 12

Principal terms and conditions of service 13

Key dates and the selection process 14

The advertisement 15

Welcome letter

January 2017

Dear Candidate

Housing Officer (Supported Housing) – Part time 21 hours per week

Thank you for your interest in working for Hexagon Housing Association.

If you require a copy of this document in an alternative format please contact us on the

details below.

As a provider of high quality housing and care services, we believe it is important to recruit

talented individuals who share our vision to be the provider of choice.

We know that attracting and keeping the best people is the most effective way to build a

successful business, so we are committed to investing in you and your future, offering a

competitive remuneration package and providing extensive learning and development

opportunities throughout your career.

This pack gives background information on Hexagon and the role you are applying for.

Please make sure your application reaches us by Sunday 29th

January 2017.

You will be contacted within ten working days of the closing date if you have been

shortlisted. If we do not contact you, then please assume that you have been unsuccessful

on this occasion.

Good luck!

Hexagon Human Resources

Tel: 0208 768 7941

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.hexagon.org.uk/careers

About Hexagon

Hexagon is an innovative and responsive

Housing Association working in partnership

with a range of local authorities to meet

housing and care needs across South East

London. With a turnover of £25.78m and 154

staff, Hexagon is continually improving the

quality and range of our affordable homes and

services.

As an organisation, we are concerned with

people, their homes and communities. We

make good quality, affordable housing and

services available to people in South East

London, and work to extend opportunities and

improve the neighbourhoods they live in.

With over 3,800 homes for rent we offer more housing choices in areas of high demand.

We are building new homes and taking part in major regeneration initiatives in London.

More than 300 vulnerable people use our specialist housing and one-to-one care and

support services.

Like all housing associations, Hexagon is a not-for-profit organisation and is regulated by the

Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

Hexagon's driving aim is: 'To meet housing, care, and support needs in South London and

North Kent, and assist with economic and social regeneration'.

Our values include:

• We foster equality of opportunity and

embrace diversity in everything we do.

• We are committed to ensuring

affordability of all our homes and

services.

• We strive to be open and accountable

to our customers and partners.

• We place the interests of our residents

and service-users at the heart of what

we do.

• We value our staff and are committed

to them achieving their potential.

Only by having a clear and understandable mission statement and values, can we measure

our own success and progress. Our mission & values statements allow our customers to

know what they can expect from Hexagon.

Our Corporate Objectives are:

• To continually improve the quality and range

of our affordable homes and services through

innovation and best practice.

• To be cost effective, efficient and competitive.

• To be amongst the best in the provision of

housing, care, support and related services.

• To be financially secure.

• To develop, motivate, and retain staff.

• To be socially responsible in the way we run

our business, and in particular, to focus our

efforts on promoting environmental

sustainability.

About the Housing Services Team

Thank you for showing an interest in the Housing Officer post. Set out below is some

background information about Hexagon, the department and the job, which we hope you

will find useful.

Stock profile

Hexagon Housing Association owns and manages approximately 4200 homes in south-east

London and Kent. Most of our stock is general needs housing but our portfolio of shared

ownership and leasehold housing is growing. We also have over 300 homes in Supported

Housing schemes, about two thirds of which we manage ourselves and one third is managed

by Supported Housing agencies. Co-operative managing agents manage about 300 of our

general needs rented homes.

Our partner boroughs are Southwark, Lewisham, Greenwich, Bexley and Croydon, with a

small number of homes in Bromley and Kent. We are building new homes for rent and

shared ownership, currently mostly in Croydon and Bexley.

Our homes include all types ranging from modern purpose built blocks of flats, through to

Victorian houses converted into flats and houses. We do not manage any large estates –

our biggest single estate is 100 flats – but we do manage a large number of small estates

and blocks.

Our office

The Housing Services department staff are based at our office in Sydenham, London SE26

along with all other Hexagon staff apart from those care staff working in our high support

schemes (managed by our Care and Support Manager).

The Housing Services Department

We have restructured and brought Supported Housing into the Housing Services

department so there are now two teams, the larger one managing our general needs rented

tenancies and our shared owners and leaseholders, the smaller team managing our

Supported Housing tenancies. These teams are responsible for all aspects of tenancy

management except for repairs.

The smaller Supported Housing team has a manager, and an agency monitoring officer, a

senior housing officer, 5 housing officers, and an administrator, as well as handypersons.

Supported Housing

Hexagon’s Supported Housing Team provides housing management for a wide range of

accommodation for vulnerable people in the boroughs of Southwark, Lewisham, Greenwich,

Bromley and Bexley.

The properties include shared houses, care homes, self-contained flats and supported living

schemes. Our tenants are young people with support needs, former rough sleepers, people

living with HIV/AIDS and people with learning disabilities or mental health needs.

The Housing Officer will need to work closely with a number of support providers, some of

which provide an on-site, 24 hour service, others of which provide lower support, and

ensure good liaison with our partners including local authorities, health services, and

voluntary organisations.

Current Priorities

Income collection and rent arrears control is a constant priority, especially at the moment

now that Universal Credit has started to affect our residents.

Improving resident satisfaction with the appearance of our blocks and estates is a key

priority and we have an action plan in place to achieve this.

There will be work to do to ensure that we can gain some efficiencies by bringing our

Supported Housing operation into Housing Services. The future of Supported Housing

provision is constantly being challenged by the effects of Government policies and local

authority cuts and we want to continue to be able to meet the needs of the residents in our

supported housing schemes, some of whom are very vulnerable.

Hexagon as an Employer

We recognise the importance of making Hexagon a great place to work, and are committed

to continuously improving Employee Engagement. This commitment has been recognised

externally by the receipt of an Award from ORC International for Employee Engagement in

2014 – when our engagement index was measured at 88%. Having undertaken a Staff

Survey at the end of 2015, we are thrilled that our Employee Engagement has increased to

89%. We also achieved IIP Gold in 2015.

January 2017

Job Description – Housing Officer – (Supported Housing)

Reports to: Senior Housing Officer

Purpose

1. Provide a responsive and pro-active tenancy management service, liaising closely

with the residents and any relevant support providers.

2. In conjunction with the referral agencies, be responsible for processing voids and

letting homes, working closely with the support providers and partner agencies,

ensuring that void losses are kept to a minimum.

Principle Accountabilities

1. Sign up new tenants, involving advocates as needed, and advise on initial claim for

welfare benefits.

2. Manage rent arrears, including former tenant arrears, proactively and in

accordance with the Association’s Policies and Procedures.

3. Undertake legal action to evict tenants where necessary.

4. Prepare regular performance information as required.

5. Conduct health & safety inspections, including fire safety reviews as required and

ensure that residents are made aware of their responsibilities regarding health and

safety and fire safety.

6. Ensure repairs and improvements are dealt with satisfactorily and liaise with

Customer Services and Property Services to this end.

7. Implement the Association’s Policies and Procedures in relation to tenant

participation, providing support and advice and attending external tenants

meetings as required.

8. In liaison with the Finance Department, administer the provision of comprehensive

information to tenants in relation to service charges and contracts.

9. Set up and manage budgets for the properties/schemes including contracts for

estate cleaning, and other related matters.

10. Be self-servicing (e.g. letters, report and electronic mail messages) ensure good

practice in maintaining and updating all types of files

11. Implement the Associations policies and procedures as a line manager providing

support and supervision to the Handyperson and appraising them of their

performance (where relevant)

12. Monitor the work of the Handyperson and ensure resources are used effectively

and efficiently (where relevant)

13. Conduct all duties and responsibilities in accordance with Hexagon’s Diversity and

Equality Policy.

14. Carry out any other reasonable related duties and responsibilities as may be

required by the line manager.

Notes

All tasks within this Job Description may be carried out on behalf of Hexagon Housing

Association Ltd, its subsidiaries and any associated organisations.

Post holders will always be consulted before job descriptions are amended.

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Person Specification – Housing Officer (Supported Housing) Skills Required Level Method of Assessment Rank

E = Essential D = Desirable

Work Experience • 1 years’ experience of housing management either in general needs or

supported housing.

• Experience of working with vulnerable people

Application Form/Interview


E

E

Skills/Knowledge/ Abilities

• Knowledge of Welfare Benefits

• Knowledge of health and safety/risk issues relating to scheme

management

• Knowledge of rent arrears management

• Knowledge of consulting service users

• Ability to communicate clearly – verbally and in writing

• Good numeracy skills to understand budget setting and control

• Basic IT skills – experience of word processing

• Ability to work under pressure in a team environment

• Ability to work on own initiative










E

D

E

D

E

E

E

Personal Qualities • Commitment to equal opportunities and respect for others

• Commitment to providing a high standard of customer service.

• Willingness to attend occasional evening meetings

• Willingness to occasionally participate in on call rota (for which payment

is made)

• Car Owner/Driver



Application Form

Application Form

Application Form

E

E

E

E

E

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You will only be short-listed from the details written on the application form if you meet all of the criteria ranked as E – Essential.

August 2016

Advice to applicants

The above specification will be used in the shortlisting process.

As a minimum, candidates must cover the requirements marked as ‘Essential’ in their application where the Application Form has been

identified as one of the methods of assessment.

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Principal terms and conditions (For information purposes only)

Working for Hexagon

We pride ourselves on providing a working environment which allows people to enjoy what

they do, develop their skills and fulfil their potential. We are accredited by Investors in

People with Gold status, demonstrating our commitment to the development of our staff.

We offer excellent conditions of employment, and training programmes.

1. Position

Housing Officer - Part-time 21 hours per week.

2. Remuneration

£16,544 - £19,983 + Essential Car User Allowance

3. Our generous range of benefits includes:

Core Benefits

o Pension scheme.

o Career break scheme.

o Free eye tests.

o Free confidential counselling services.

Work life balance

o Flexi-time/TOIL.

o Maternity, paternity & shared parental leave.

o Adoption Leave.

o Carers Leave.

o Child care vouchers.

Other Benefits

o Salary Sacrifice – Gym Membership Scheme.

o Salary Sacrifice – Car Leasing Scheme.

o Salary Sacrifice – Computer Scheme

o Season Ticket Loan

o Cycle 2 Work Scheme

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Rewarding our staff

o A comprehensive corporate training and development plan.

o Fully comprehensive induction and training for all employees.

o Staff Excellence Awards.

o Social Events.

4. Annual Leave

26 days plus 8 public holidays increasing by 1 day per annum up to 31 days (pro rata

for Part-time).

5. Location

Your normal place of work will be our head office at 130-136 Sydenham Road

Sydenham, London SE26 5JY.

6. Working hours

21 hours per week.

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The advertisement

HOUSING OFFICER (SUPPORTED HOUSING) - 21 HRS PW SALARY £16,544 - £19,983 + Essential Car User Allowance Working 21 hours per week (over three or four days), you will provide a comprehensive housing service to a range of vulnerable tenants including those with learning disabilities, mental health issues and young people. You must have, a proven background in housing management, (including income collection, welfare benefits knowledge, and health & safety inspections) and working with vulnerable people. Full driving licence and access to a vehicle is essential. Please note that the successful candidate will be required to apply for an Enhanced Disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau. Closing Date: Sunday 29th January 2017

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Key dates and the selection process

i.

Closing date:

Sunday 29th

January 2017

Short listing:

W/c Monday 30th

January 2017

Interviews:

TBC

housing officer jan 17 - hexagon housing association · about hexagon hexagon is an innovative and...

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