Rehousing Support Officer- LBS-010

The Rehousing Support Officer role will provide an important role in ensuring that tenants and leaseholders within estate renewal construction projects receive a first class and dedicated service to enable them to move seamlessly from their existing homes to a new home.
This role is essential to help us deliver on our goals to increase resident satisfaction, provide high level of housing and improve the overall service experience for residents that are faced with challenging circumstances. You will:

Be instrumental in establishing positive relationships between internal stakeholders and our residents through challenging circumstances.

Work collaboratively with other teams and departments to achieve aims of the council and deliver the highest standards of service to our residents.

To establish a culture where the council achieve results, to take a lead on finding improved ways of working that utilise our great staff and make best use of technologies.

Be easy to deal with, trusted and to provide resolutions to our resident service requests.

To be responsible for implementing and managing chain rehousing for both permanent and temporary housing.

Be responsible for tracking void targets and monitoring KPI's.

Be an ambassador role, promoting the highest standards of resident service across the council.

We want to be known for always actively seeking resident feedback and utilising learning from a range of sources to drive service improvements across the council. Look for ways to reduce barriers to service and streamline processes for the benefit of service delivery.

The role and Southwark Construction are advocates for the resident, ensuring services are delivered with sensitivity, warmth and empathy.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES

The Rehousing Support Officer will be responsible for undertaking the new customer rehousing and support services for estate renewal schemes. The estate renewal schemes are at various stages of development. The principal accountabilities reflect this as set out below:

§ Work with internal stakeholders to achieve vacant possession of schemes by key milestone dates
§ Work with internal stakeholders to ensure that residents eligible for rehousing are pre-allocated properties in line with the local lettings agreements
§ Prepare business case report, as necessary to enable direct offers to be made to residents where applicable
§ Be responsible for developing and maintaining a tenant movement tracker for each estate renewal scheme and presentation of this at key meetings to receive support and guidance from key departments
§ Work closely with Southwark Construction to identify homes that could be used to rehouse residents required to move from the estate renewal estates
§ Work with leaseholders to deliver landlord offer and to achieve vacant possession dates
§ Work with tenants who want to move off of the estates, maintaining a list of tenants providing information to them at key stages of the project
§ Provide support for the Compulsory Purchase Orders as directed by the Senior Project Manager or Strategic Lead
§ Sign post residents to other services that may be of assistance to them, as may arise during engagement, both internally and externally
§ Manage complex cases
§ Management of all void properties
§ Produce rehousing strategies, analysing and preparing data
§ Take part in ongoing resident engagement process on the estates undertaken by the council or through their partners

Key Tasks and Responsibilities
Performance Standards, Outcomes and Behaviours

1.
To manage all temp and perm rehousing works streams to ensure that properties are turned around quickly.
· Ensure viewings and the decant process are managed to meet customer requirements.
· Ensuring that targets for letting times are met;
· Working with both Housing and Allocation colleagues to ensure void turnaround targets are met
· Ensuring that allocations comply with policy & GLA guidance and are fair, as well as meeting any nomination agreements/S106 conditions.
· Ensure new handovers are planned effectively to achieve fast void turnaround and communication with prospective/new residents is effective.
· To ensure all data is logged within the council's systems
2.
To actively promote successful lettings through marketing and relationship building
· Good working relationships maintained with internal stakeholders, working groups and referral agencies
· Professional and effective materials produced to promote services;
· Rationalise processes - making more efficient & customer focused
· To develop and manage chain decants to ensure vacant possession is achieved
· To work with external parties to agree partnership agreements for both temp and permanent residents.
· Review households with under occupancy and devise a strategy to deal with these properties

3
Opportunities to Move to free up Red & Amber Properties
· To take lead on discretionary transfer requests and appeals;
· Ensure requests to move are managed in sensitive manner, as well as in line with polices and ensure resident is fully informed;
· Ensure Mutual Exchanges promoted and facilitated;
· Transfers dealt with speedily and efficiently;
· Managing the permanent rehousing programme as well as responding to the demand for temporary decants and maximising the use of properties to achieve business objectives.
· Ensure rehousing residents are dealt with sensitively and according to procedure;
· Ensuring continuous and clear communication with customers at each stage leading to decision and throughout the management of the case
4.
To manage vacant possession
· Responsible for ensuring that Vacant Possession is provided at key milestone dates

5
To support the effective working of Voids, Lettings and Housing Teams
· Effective contributions made at meetings.
· Leading and contributing to team and departmental work plans, policy and service reviews, corporate strategies and projects.
· Develop processes and procedures, strategies for achieving regeneration across estates
· Complete reports to SMT team and feed into Board reports, on occasion report to Strategy meetings on significant risks/issues., Experience of working on development or major works schemes within social housing in a resident focused role
E
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Experience of collating information from a number of sources and using this to create, populate and update project plans
E
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Experience in managing complex complaints, members enquiries and casework.
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Experience of communicating effectively with customers and at all levels of the organisation
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Experience in carrying out light handy man services
D
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Aptitudes, Skills & Competencies:
Ability to work on own initiative, identifying priorities and setting own targets where necessary
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Engage customers to determine the options and solutions that best meet their needs
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Work to understand the diverse needs and expectations of customers
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Ensure quality standards are set and monitor progress to ensure high quality services are delivered
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Monitor and evaluate satisfaction levels and service performance and seek to improve services
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Anticipate potential problems and initiate ways to overcome them

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Planning and prioritising own workloads to achieve tasks within a tight deadline
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Proactively look at the services delivered and suggest ways in which it can be improved
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Welcome and actively use new technology to deliver the service
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Build relationships internally and externally to meet objectives
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Take ownership of issues and problems
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Special Conditions of Recruitment:
Comply with and promote the Council's Equal opportunities policy
This position requires flexibility in approach to work in terms of evening and weekends as required.
This position will require regular travel mainly around the London Borough of Southwark

Key: D Desirable S Shortlisting criteria
E Essential I Evaluated at interview
T Subject to test
Rehousing and Support Officer JD - September 2024

The next phases of demolition and rehousing are critical stages in both estate renewal programmes and the council is obliged to fulfil its contractual obligations of providing vacant possession to the respective builders which may include obtaining compulsory purchase orders to achieve this for the Aylesbury and Tustin Estates. The successful candidates will need to have experience of working in a local authority or social housing setting, supporting residents with rehousing to facilitate estate renewal programmes.

The person specification is a picture of skills, knowledge and experience required to carry out the job., Ability to work on own initiative, identifying priorities and setting own targets where necessary, Experience in administering, monitoring and tracking resident movements within a local authority or housing association environment, Experience in dealing sensitively with customers in challenging and complex environments and applying good problem-solving skills