In addition, if any of your tenants or clients are going through a challenging phase in life, you have the authority to refer them to several support services. Support service includes mental health counselling, a financial advisor, or even a social worker. However, being a housing officer requires a handful package of skills and relevant qualifications.
So, you can kickstart your career in this field if you acquire both. This career is best suited for you if you are a people person. An individual who has a lot of patience and can deal with all types of situations by keeping a calm mind can excel in this career. Hence, having a good set of interpersonal skills can take you a long way in this profession.
Some skills are already in-built in an individual, and some can be acquired through professional training or experience. So, we are mentioning a list of the five most required skills to be an experienced housing officer:.
Active listening gives the right impression to other people that you are attentive and interested in what they are saying. You can show gestures to prove that. It can be by either nodding your head or even smiling in some situations.
You always maintain eye contact with the other person. Therefore, it is essential to this role because you always have to hear your tenants and listen to their problems. Thus, active listening skills would help you solve problems faster and come up with different solutions. Conflict can arise anytime between the residents of the social housing due to several issues. In some social housing, there are shared kitchens and bathrooms. It can cause more conflict, especially when more than two families share these common areas.
It would help the community to stay close-knit and share a good bond. As a housing officer, you have to be prepared to hear many heartbreaking and disturbing stories from your tenants. Stories about domestic violence, physical abuse, etc. Therefore, apart from just hearing these stories and listening to their problems, you should try to understand and connect to them emotionally. It would mean a lot to the other person, making them feel heard and not alone.
Moreover, empathy draws people closer, and this quality can help you create a strong bond with your tenants. Analytical competency refers to the ability of a person to collect and analyse data. Based on the data collected, a person needs to decide or pass a statement regarding a particular situation. As a housing officer, you need to prepare conditional property reports, prepare inspection reports, and audit all the data collected.
Therefore, after you have all the data, you will investigate them and check if you find any abnormalities. If there are any issues, you have to develop a relevant solution on time. In addition, you would use your analytical skills to observe, brainstorm and integrate new information. You can use them to make the services for these social housing even better. Also, if you detect any fraudulent activity or money-related issues, you can contact the higher authorities and take action.
It is one of the essential skills required for a housing officer. It also means that you can get your point across without making other people feel bad or uncomfortable. Therefore, as a housing officer, you always have to confront your tenants and attend several meetings. So, during these regular meetings and frequent visits to your tenants, you need to share your viewpoints in a way that does not make others feel that you are too bossy! For example, if you notice that a particular tenant has kept their property very untidy during a routine inspection, you have to say it nicely and calmly.
Moreover, your goal should be to get your point across in the sweetest possible way. Since we have now got a clear understanding of the responsibilities of a housing officer and the mandatory skills required to outshine in this field.
Although, apart from the necessary skills , an individual must also be qualified to join this profession. They must have good numeracy and literacy knowledge to keep them going!
Graduates from all backgrounds are welcome into this field. Maths and English are the two compulsory subjects required. In addition, students have to make sure that they do not score any less than the Grade C in their high school.
Secondly, after they pass their A levels, they have two options. The first option is to do a foundation degree in relevant subjects such as building surveying, social policy, housing, land economics, property management , community development, or social work. However, the second option is to take a certificate or vocational training from any registered college. Colleges that offer online or offline courses accredited by CIH Chartered Institute of Housing can be a perfect option.
An example of such a course is Housing Officer Training. This course would help you learn and acquire the essential skills for this role. You will get the opportunity to work as a licensed housing officer or an area manager. Although, if you are already a graduate not necessarily in housing , you can still get a certificate in housing. However, recent graduates from other disciplines can even apply in some graduate trainee programmes with housing organisations.
Lastly, after you are qualified enough for the profession, you can start your career as an administrative assistant or a housing assistant. Later, with more experience and training in the field, you can move up the career ladder and become a senior housing officer in future. Apart from the academic qualifications, an individual can get into the field by professional training as well.
It is because practical experience is beneficial in housing work. During professional training, you would understand more about-. Your Housing Officer may pop round to speak to you, or call you about an incident, to establish what action needs to be taken.
Our Housing Officers often need to speak to tenants to check if they are still interested in a move, or if their circumstances have changed. This does not necessarily mean that we have a property available, but you may be near the top of the housing list. If you pay your rent and take good care of your home, your Housing Officer may get in touch with you to tell you that you have won The Almond Award, our quarterly draw rewarding good tenants. The draw is our way of thanking folk for keeping on top of their rent payments, taking care of their home and generally being a good tenant.
Your Right and Responsibilities. Why does your Housing Officer need to contact you? Here to help We want the best for our tenants, and your Housing Officer is able to get you help, advice and assistance on many matters. Your garden If the Housing Officer finds that your garden is overgrown or untidy, this will be followed up. Many employers offer flexible hours, job sharing and career breaks.
Although this area of work is open to all graduates, a degree in the following subjects may increase your chances:. Relevant HND subjects include property and social, economic or business studies. In particular, the following subjects may increase your chances:. Some housing organisations offer graduate trainee schemes.
These schemes generally provide the opportunity to gain experience in a range of departments and sometimes offer a professional qualification. It may also be possible to secure a graduate internship on a specific project. Contact housing organisations directly for details of opportunities. The Centre for Partnership runs The GEM Programme , a graduate employment mentoring programme, which provides training and a housing profession qualification.
Entry without a degree or HND is possible. Personal qualities and experience tend to be more important than academic qualifications, although larger housing associations are more likely than other housing employers to recruit graduates.
Relevant postgraduate courses may facilitate entry, but you can also take courses while working. Courses are run through CIH-accredited centres and via distance learning. Pre-entry experience in housing or a related customer service field is essential for some posts. Gaining experience in tenants' associations, housing association committees or in similar community roles is also useful, as is vacation or voluntary work with local authority housing departments or housing associations.
You could also try temping as a housing assistant or working in a customer service role to prepare for working in the housing sector. Find out more about the different kinds of work experience and internships that are available.
Local authorities have traditionally been the main employers of housing professionals. Specialist recruitment agencies such as Eden Brown and Hays - Social Housing advertise vacancies in the housing sector.
If you secure a place on a graduate trainee scheme, you'll usually gain experience in a range of housing departments and may be given support to undertake a professional qualification, accredited by CIH. The majority of employers run in-house training or hire training agencies to run courses on relevant topics, such as health and safety, dealing with difficult tenants, neighbourhood nuisance and regulatory updates.
Try approaching your employer for support in studying for a professional qualification. The CIH also offers a student membership. It's likely you'll start your career as a tenancy support officer, housing assistant, customer service adviser or housing administrator.
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