With the current climate, the way it is, fair and effective allocation of socially affordable housing amongst public sector organisations is essential.
Pressure increases daily on those working within Local Authorities and Housing Associations, but by matching the right people to the myriad of positions available within the housing sector, we can help lessen this pressure, which in return will help improve the efficiency of the service provided to existing and future residents.
What are Housing Services?
Housing Services is an umbrella term primarily defined as the provision and maintenance of social housing for the most vulnerable groups in society. Such services are predominantly provided by the public sector through Local Authorities and Housing Associations.
Over the years at Oyster Partnership we have learnt, through communicating with our extensive client base, that Housing Services are primarily defined by two distinct sub-sectors: Housing Management and Housing Needs.
What are Housing Needs?
With over 130,000 families living in one-bedroom flats in England alone, it’s clear the UK housing sector is experiencing an ever-growing problem.
Oyster Partnership is a dynamic social housing recruiter that has been addressing recruitment within this sector for over 15 years, providing highly skilled and qualified workers to the housing sector.
With an enormous number of positions to fill, daily duties can differ for each role substantially, however for a typical advisory role (a position we are frequently asked to recruit for) candidates may be asked to inspect properties, arrange repairs, providing expert advice and liaise with other relevant organisations to find alternative accommodation – where relevant.
The roles we recruit for can range anywhere from housing advice officer to reviews manager, with the demand for specialist staff in this sector is continually growing. In order to be successful within this industry individuals require a high level of emotional intelligence, the ability to think logistically, and the confidence to work and liaise with other organisations.
What is Housing Management?
Intrinsically linked with the Housing Needs sector, is that of Housing Management. A vital component of Housing Services, Housing Management focuses primarily on managing tenants and leaseholders across the sector; allocating housing to new and existing tenants, providing appropriate tenancy agreements and providing housing support, information and advice.
Oyster Partnership’s Housing Management team has supported numerous recruitment campaigns for a range of public sector organisations, placing staff into various Housing Associations, Trusts and Local Authorities at all levels of management across the UK since our inception more than ten years ago.
Typical social Housing Management jobs can include Head of Housing, Housing Management, and Housing Officers – recruiting for junior positions all the way up to director level. Daily duties can be highly varied, and as such finding an appropriately skilled candidate is crucial if we are to play a part in tackling the housing problem the sector is facing. An organisational goal our team at Oyster Partnership has undertaken.
Typical responsibilities for an individual in a Housing Management job will include anything from managing rent, dealing with evictions, utilising in-depth knowledge of landlord-tenant law, and managing budgets. The jobs we recruit for range all the way from front-line staff to directors and require emotionally adept, rational, and skilled individuals. In order for this sector to resist the dilemma it faces, effective, quick recruitment is vital.
How do we match talent to Housing Services roles?
At Oyster Partnership, our in-depth industry knowledge has enabled us to understand exactly what skills and qualities our clients are looking for in candidates, and ensure we are able to deliver the most efficient, effective recruitment for these organisations.
Since day one we have specialised in the placements of Housing Professionals, over the years this has meant we have developed an unrivaled network of clients and candidates throughout the industry. Our consultants are trained to extract not only basic information but also to delve deeper to truly understand the requirements of all parties.
Whether it’s for restructures, redundancies, short-term cover, or project-based assignments our consultants are able to look beyond job descriptions to secure the most suitable candidates available. This has helped establish Oyster Partnership as an industry leader in recruiting, offering tailor-made recruitment campaigns to those organisations struggling with a heavy workload.
We receive consistently brilliant feedback from both candidates and clients across our Housing Needs and Housing Management teams. Most recently we were told by a client that we “have been great in finding suitable candidates, at very short notice” and that our consultants were “very attentive to their needs and made the task of recruiting easier.”
If you would like to speak to a Housing Services specialist about anything to do with Housing Management or Housing Needs – call 020 7766 9000 and ask to speak to Housing Needs or the Housing Management team.