Job Introduction
A great opportunity for a dedicated and experienced Allocations and Lettings Manager to join our Housing Team.
This pivotal role involves managing the allocation and letting of social housing properties, ensuring our processes are fair, transparent, and efficient.
As Allocations and Lettings Manager, you’ll play a key role in maintaining and managing the housing register, minimising void periods and maximising customer satisfaction. You’ll lead a team of professionals, providing strategic direction and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Your expertise in social housing, combined with your strong leadership and customer service skills, will be essential in delivering high-quality services to our residents. You’ll work closely with internal and external stakeholders to ensure that our housing services meet the needs of the community and comply with relevant legislation and best practices.
If you care about making a positive impact in the social housing sector and have a proven track record in allocations and lettings, this could be the role for you.
Main Responsibility
- This role will be the expert lead on Allocations, responsible for people and operational management across the Allocations service. You’ll work with the Head of Housing Operations to best support the overall aims and responsibilities of the services Key Performance Indicators, helping to shape, drive and deliver strategic direction for the Allocations services.
- Lead and develop a team of professionals to provide an effective allocations service including statutory responsibilities for the allocations scheme and housing register. This role is to lead and represent the service with wider teams including Repairs and assets, Housing Income, Business systems, Legal, Finance, HR and IT. Ensure teams are effectively managed and supervised through regular supervisions, and team meetings are held ensuring policies and procedures are adhered to, and services delivered to a high standard.
- Provide advice to your teams, Councillors and the public on matters relating to allocations, choice-based lettings, and the housing register.
- Develop and implement strategies, policies and plans relating to the service ensuring that these are communicated effectively and implemented to meet stated objectives and core values.
- Ensure that effective stakeholder management is established and maintained in relation to the housing register by working alongside partners including registered providers, sub-regional partners and other council services to ensure integrated and effective rehousing services in the city.
- Ensure service budgets are monitored and controlled to ensure financial targets are met and systems are in place to identify pressure areas and respond appropriately.
- Support the Director and the Head of Service to develop the Council’s strategy, policies, and procedures in relation to all matters connected with housing allocations, housing advice and managing the housing register. To deputise for the Head of Service for matters relating to allocations as necessary.
- Ensure delivery of efficiency improvements, through the use of technology and implementing best practice.
- Lead on training and mentoring of the team, particularly focusing on the improved use of the business systems for performance and trend monitoring.
- Ensure complaints are investigated and reports prepared to ensure timely and appropriate resolution for customers.
- Prepare responses and gather and co-ordinate information for Ombudsman enquiries and complaints.
- Undertaking complex multi-faceted problems and complaints, ensuring these are resolved within required timescales.
- Ensuring arising themes and learning outcomes are incorporated into service improvement with mechanisms developed to ensure continuous improvement, meeting national and local performance targets and by setting and meeting team improvement targets.
The Ideal Candidate
- CIH Level 4 (or willing to work towards), 5 GCSEs grade A-C including English (or equivalent level of educational attainment).
- A detailed understanding of the relevant legal, political and operational aspects related to managing housing registers and allocating council and other social housing.
- Detailed and comprehensive working knowledge of the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) regulatory requirements, with new Consumer Standards that apply to Local Authorities.
- Demonstrate strategic thinking, taking account of and identifying a range of longer-term issues, opportunities and contingences. Relates these activities of the team to the bigger picture.
- Experience of leading and delivering change within a complex organisation and managing complex projects and initiatives.
- Able to demonstrate good working knowledge of IT systems and able to use Word and Excel.
- Demonstrable ability to communicate and influence, able to express ideas or facts clearly and convince/influence others to their point of view.
- Able to lead others; motivate, enable, and inspire others to succeed utilising appropriate interpersonal styles, including leading by example.
Package Description
In addition to your salary, we offer a range of benefits including:
- Great holiday benefits - most roles include 28 days annual leave every year on top of public (bank) holidays, increasing to 32 days after five years. In addition, there is a holiday purchase scheme allowing staff to purchase up to 5 additional days of leave each year.
- Excellent pension – everyone who works for us can join the national Local Government Pension Scheme, widely regarded as one of the best available.
- A full range of family friendly policies including enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity support and a childcare subsidy.
- Access to an award-winning employee benefits programme that includes a health cash plan, a low-cost bike purchase scheme as well as high street discounts and money off entertainment and travel.
- Salary sacrifice car scheme – low-cost leasing of electric and low emission vehicles.
- Blue Light Card - employees working within social care can qualify for an additional range of discounts from national retailers and local businesses.
Why join us? Along with more on our Benefits, discover why Working at the City Council could be the right move for you here Working at the Council | Milton Keynes
Our roles are either designated ‘site based’ or ‘home based’. ‘Site based’ roles can include up to two days a week working from home whilst ‘home based’ roles are based at home four days a week. Of course, managers designate which category roles are in based on the needs of the service and the circumstances.
About The Organisation
Milton Keynes City Council is a large, modern and financially stable employer with around 2,500 people working across our eight areas. Together we provide local residents and businesses with a wide range of important round-the-clock services and aim to make our city a better place to live.
We work hard because of the demands placed on us, like protecting children from harm or preventing homelessness. However, working for the city is always rewarding and everyone has the opportunity to make a real difference.
We’re very proud of our diversity and are committed to having a workforce that reflects the community we serve. Whatever your background, you will be welcome here if you share our values of being dedicated, respectful and collaborative.
We offer great training and support and because of the size and scale of the organisation there are always new opportunities to explore when it’s time for a new role.
If you’d like to know more about how we do things and what matters to us, take a look at our short booklet What makes us Milton Keynes City Council.
