Service Charge Officer

Inside Housing Management; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 36,000 - 37,000; Full time

Job summary

A national social justice charity is seeking a Service Charge Officer in Birmingham (home based – West Midlands). The ideal candidate will have at least 2 years of experience in rent setting within a social housing environment and strong Excel skills. Duties include maintaining rent and service charge models, liaising with Local Authorities, and managing workload effectively. This role offers a competitive salary of £36,213 per annum and requires basic DBS check. Join us to help make a difference in communities.

Qualifications

• At least 2 years' experience of rent setting in a social housing environment.
• Expertise on matters such as rent setting and housing benefit regulations.
• Take responsibility for performance targets and contribute to team performance.

Responsibilities

• Maintain a model for setting and reviewing rent and service charges.
• Liaise with Local Authorities to ensure rent charges are approved.
• Manage daily workload ensuring all activities are completed on time.

Skills

Excel proficiency

Knowledge of housing benefit regulations

Rent setting experience

Problem solving skills

Analytical skills

Job description

Service Charge Officer

Location: Birmingham (Home based – West Midlands)

Minimum office attendance requirement: Birmingham office, at least once per month, subject to business needs

Salary: £36,213 Per Annum

Job Type: Full-Time, Permanent

Working Hours: 40 hours per week (including 5 hours paid lunch break)

Basic DBS check required.

We are a national social justice charity with more than 50 years’ experience of changing lives, building stronger communities, and reducing crime. We help support, house, educate, advise, and speak out for disadvantaged young people and adults – and you could now help us make an even bigger impact going forward.

Who are we looking for?

Ideally you should be experienced in setting rents and service charges in a social housing setting, preferably a supported housing environment. If you don’t have this experience then knowledge of housing benefit regulations around charges is particularly desirable. A love for Excel and spreadsheets is a must too… you need to have at least intermediate level Excel skills and be proficient in the use of formulas, pivot tables, data analysis – these skills will be tested at interview.

Working in our Rent Setting team provides an exciting opportunity to collaborate with almost other teams across the organisation, and really get to understand the business and increase your network. The role will give you the chance to showcase your problem solving and analytical skills, while being able to make decisions to provide great service to our service users.

Duties and responsibilities

• Maintain a clear model and methodology for setting and reviewing rent and service charges, ensuring a full breakdown of charges and evidence base linked to the budget is produced for each property.
• Work to the annual review timeline for rent increases and be responsible for keeping that on track, ensuring that all stakeholders (internal and external) are fully aware of any deadlines and requirements.
• Liaise with Local Authorities to ensure rent charges are approved at the appropriate levels, and maximising income where rent is HB eligible.
• Manage and prioritise own workload on a day-to-day basis, ensuring all activities are completed to agreed timescales and requirements, including:
  • providing regular updates on the service charge and rent reviews
  • providing detailed estimates of future costs as part of budget setting and as new schemes are acquired
  • calculating budgeted expenditure against those forecasted and or actual expenditure.
  • checking contracts and budgets against the allocation of costs to actual schemes
  • reviewing exceptions within schemes and resolving issues
  • ensuring that the processes for logging invoices, coding and apportionment of costs relating to service charges are correctly managed

At Nacro, we believe in the power of a diverse and inclusive team. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, including those with criminal records and first-hand experience of the criminal justice system. All applications are assessed on merit.

What we’re looking for:

• At least 2 years’ experience of rent setting in a social housing environment, with an emphasis on supported housing
• Expertise on matters such as rent setting, rent standard legislation, housing benefit regulations surrounding eligible charges
• Actively contribute towards meeting team performance targets in respect of the service. Take accountability for performance targets that fall within your sphere of responsibility e.g. budgetary control and provision
• Take responsibility for committing to learning and development and actively designing actions through the appraisal and supervision process that will help improve practice and support skills

For the Nacro Candidate pack please visit our official website.

For further information about the role please visit our official website.

Having a criminal record will not preclude your success in this role; any criminal record information will be subject to a fair and proportionate assessment. If you would like advice about applying for work with a criminal record, please contact our confidential Criminal Record Support Service on 0300 123 1999 or by email at [e-mail].

For any questions about the role please contact: Jack Baxter – [e-mail], Rent & Service Charge Manager.