Legal Assistant Summary

Are you passionate about making a difference in people's lives through housing management? Join our dynamic business development team as a Legal Assistant, reporting to our Legal Services Team Leader. In this integral role, you'll provide crucial legal support to our operational teams, focusing on housing management issues such as tenancy breaches, possession for lease expiry, and escalated arrears.

As part of our legal team, you'll manage your own caseload, working closely with operations, tenancy sustainment, and safeguarding teams. Your goal will be to ensure appropriate processes and procedures are followed, while placing residents at the centre of every decision, balancing out the needs and vulnerabilities of our customer base. You'll play a vital role in rent collection and contribute significantly to our organisation's success.
How you'll do it

Our business development team works alongside our resident-facing colleagues and managers across supported and temporary housing, to deliver excellent services in quality homes and places, employing a variety of specialist functions and utilising a broad range of skills. You'll need to work well under pressure delivering a 'can do' and high-quality support service in an area where attention to detail is critical but knowing that you'll be part of a friendly and supportive team.

Specific duties will include:

• Leading on lease expiry, rent and recovery cases to obtain vacant possession and maximising income


• Manage other legal cases assigned, providing support to legal team members as required, including disrepair


• Represent the business in external settings, such as court, multi-agency meetings, local authority engagement meetings, mediation and casework panels


• Prepare, draft and respond to all necessary legal documentation and bundles, evidence and witness statements as required


• Work effectively with panel solicitors where cases require external involvement
  
  You'll provide proactive legal services help and advice to your team and the wider supported and temporary housing team. As the environment is extremely busy, we'll be counting on you to support them to deliver an excellent service. You'll also need to have good written skills and be very organised in order to meet deadlines and ensure the work of the team runs smoothly.


Essential:

• Good spoken and written English


• Excellent verbal and written communication skills


• Strong organisational skills, accuracy and attention to detail


• Proficiency using legal databases and MS Office suite


• Good research skills


• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment


• Proven ability to develop and sustain strong relationships with your team and third party stakeholders


• Proven ability to exercise good judgement and discretion, including identifying and flagging risk
  
  Notting Hill Genesis is a not-for-profit organisation providing affordable homes for Londoners and it is now one of the largest housing associations in London. We are both a landlord and a developer, with more than 60,000 existing homes and 10,000 more in our pipeline and we employ around 1,500 people.
  
  Excellent annual leave allowance and flexible working opportunities (qualifying period may apply)


• Generous pension scheme


• Enhanced maternity, paternity, and adoption pay in addition to statutory entitlements (qualifying period may apply)


• Employee assistance - free confidential advice and counselling services provided by independent specialist organisations.


• Health cash plan


• Staff discounts - access to discounts at hundreds of major retailers, gyms, restaurants, entertainment, days out, insurance, and much more.


• Interest free loans - season ticket loan, tenancy deposit loan, and training loan


• Cycle to work scheme


• Life Assurance x4 annual salary