Job Introduction
We’re looking for a qualified accountant or someone in their final year of study (with a commitment to finishing) to join our Finance Team as a Service Charge Accountant.
Every day is different for our Finance Team who work alongside services from across the City Council to deliver value for money and improve services for residents.
In this role, you’ll lead our service charge process for leaseholders, and setting rents for tenants.
It’s significant piece of work: we have around 1,500 leaseholders with annual service charges worth more than £1m, 1,500 shared owners with annual rent charges of £4.2m and 11,000 tenants with an annual rent of £51.6m and service charges of £1.8m.
We offer flexible working arrangements including home working with a minimum of one day a week in the office and an excellent range of in-house training and development opportunities.
Main Responsibility
- Lead on and complete the actual service charge procedure, including the issuing of annual certified service charge certificates and statement of affairs for Leaseholders.
- Point of contact and assist internal and external auditors with any audits.
- Be the primary lead for setting rents for Social Housing Tenants, Temporary Accommodation, and other categories of potential Tenants, ensuring full compliance with Government rent setting policies and directions from the Regulator of Social Housing, such as the Rent Standard.
- Support the Housing Finance Manager in any aspect of the service delivery of the team, and the management of the service charge accounting process.
The Ideal Candidate
- Qualified accountant (CCAB) or in final year (with a commitment to finish) and evidence of appropriate CPD.
- Inquisitive and challenging with the ability to apply innovative and creative thinking to service challenges within a fast-paced environment.
- Extensive experience of rents and service charge accountancy, including setting service charge budgets – preferably in social housing.
- Knowledge/experience of working in social housing/property environment, understanding the changing regulations and the impact to our service delivery.
- Experience of presenting information and facilitating group discussion and/or delivering training sessions for business users with varied capabilities.
Package Description
We are really proud of the benefits we are able to offer our staff here at Milton Keynes City Council, including:-
- Local Government Pension Scheme, considered to be one of the best employer contribution rates of 18.8%.
- 28 days annual leave per year in addition to statutory and public holidays, rising to 32 days after 5 years.
- Holiday Purchase Scheme.
- Our Professional Development Centre provides access to courses such as in-house management development programmes endorsed by the Institute of Leadership, coaching and mentoring and access to our Smarter Learning portal
- Cycle to Work Scheme.
- Health Cashplan.
- MK Advantage benefits package – a range of savings on a wide range of retail, leisure and entertainment products and services such as Pizza Express, M&S, B&Q, John Lewis and Arriva Travel.
- Blue Light Card - Employees working within Social Care can qualify for a range of discounts from national retailers to local businesses in a wide range of categories including holidays, cars, days out, fashion, gifts, insurance, phones and much more!
- SmartGo – Aimed at encouraging low-carbon transport and healthy lifestyle with discounted travel e.g. Halfords, Arriva, Europcar, National Railcards and Stagecoach.
- Homebuy Scheme (for eligible roles).
- Smarter working which provides the opportunity to work from various locations including from home for a proportion of your role (subject to business needs).
- A full range of family friendly policies including enhanced Maternity, Adoption and Paternity entitlements.
- Childcare Subsidy.
About The Organisation
Milton Keynes is a diverse, welcoming, and expanding place, built on smart ideas with even bigger plans for the future. We have world class attractions, beautiful open spaces, and a great standard of living.
Milton Keynes City Council is one of the largest employers in the region, making a difference every day for local people. We’re responsible for all local government services in MK including education, housing, highways, and social services - around 240 services in all.
Our values are to be dedicated, respectful, and collaborative. If this sounds like you, join us for a stimulating and fulfilling career measured on results, and a rewarding work-life balance.
