SWALE BOROUGH COUNCIL

Housing Compliance and Engagement Officer
Location: Sittingbourne, Kent
Contract: Fixed Term – Full Time
Salary: £31,473 - £35,404 per annum

About the Role

Swale Borough Council has an exciting opportunity available for a dedicated Housing Compliance and Engagement Officer to join our Private Sector Housing Team. This full-time role (34 hours per week) offers a competitive salary and essential car user allowance, focusing on enhancing the health and safety standards within residential environments as part of the Healthy Homes Project. Your work will directly contribute to improving living conditions by addressing key issues such as damp and mould in residential properties.

This is a full-time position on a fixed term contract for 12 months.

About Swale Borough Council
Swale Borough Council is a progressive and ambitious Local Authority, located less than an hour from Central London in an attractive and diverse part of Kent involving urban, rural, and coastal areas. We believe that staff are our most valuable asset and we’re committed to attracting and retaining the very best. In recent times we have adapted and evolved to meet the current world by introducing a highly flexible hybrid working policy, along with a 34-hour week, recognising that staff wellbeing and work life balance is high on our agenda.

Our Offer

A range of benefits including:

· 34-hour full time working week with the offices closing at 1:30pm on Friday
· Highly flexible hybrid working opportunities
· 7am to 7pm flexi time to suit personal circumstances for most role
· Generous holiday entitlement which increases after 5 years LG service plus bank holidays with the option to buy additional leave
· Additional 3 days leave given to enable a close down of the offices between Christmas and New year
· Free parking
· Range of flexible working opportunities to accommodate people’s home/work life balance including compressed hours, 9-day fortnight, part time
· Invitations to staff events to celebrate success and support wellbeing that include holistic therapies and outdoor activities
· Employee Assistance Programme which provides confidential & independent information and access to counsellors
· Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) with valuable life cover and financial protection for your family
· Life Assurance – three times your annual salary (for members of the LGPS)
· Season Ticket Loan - to help with the cost of your rail/ bus journey, to & from work
· Lease car salary sacrifice scheme allowing you to lease a brand-new car. The monthly fee includes insurance, servicing, and road tax
· Annual flu vaccine
· Cycle to work scheme
· Staff benefits discounts on leisure, eating out, holidays and shopping
· Excellent learning and career opportunities for committed individuals
· A professional fee payment, if required for the role

About You

As a vital member of our team, you will conduct detailed inspections of residential properties in accordance with the Housing Health & Safety Rating System (HHSRS) to identify hazards related to damp, mould, and other structural issues. Your role is crucial in ensuring compliance with relevant housing legislation. You will prepare and issue legal notices and schedules for remedial works under various housing-related legislation and organise works in default as appropriate.

You will also respond proactively to housing complaints and manage requests related to housing options to uphold public health standards. Engagement with landlords, tenants, and housing agents is a key part of your role, enhancing awareness and compliance regarding the health impacts of damp and mould. Collaborating with internal and external partners and other relevant bodies, you will align enforcement activities with broader health outcomes.

Your responsibilities will also include participating in training and upskilling activities focused on damp and mould enforcement strategies and best practices. Effective communication with all stakeholders through various platforms is essential to promote the project's objectives and gather intelligence for enforcement strategies.

The role is demanding, but also rewarding and will require you to take personal responsibility for a wide and varied caseload and perform with a high level of professionalism. You will support other officers when taking formal enforcement action, prosecutions, and the issuing of Civil Penalties. You will help contribute to the improvement of private sector housing conditions in our district.

Selection Process

Following the submission of your application form, it will be reviewed by the recruiting manager. Those that are successful in securing an interview can expect job specific interview assessment, followed by an interview.

Swale Borough Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all employee and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to discuss this position, please contact San Nyunt, Senior Housing Environmental Health Officer on 01795417238.

Closing date: 11 June 2024.

Interview date: 18 & 19 June 2024.

Apply link: https://swale.gov.uk/news-and-your-council/vacancies-and-working-for-us