About the role:

We currently have a Senior Affordable Housing Officer post available within the Affordable Housing Team, the post is responsible for contributing to the delivery of affordable housing.

Cornwall Council has set itself a target to regularly become the top Local Authority for affordable housing delivery in England.  This was achieved for the first time in 2015/16 and again in 2017/18, and the challenge is to maintain this performance in the long term.

Officers within the Affordable Housing Team undertake a range of tasks including: securing affordable homes through the planning system; working in partnership with Registered Providers to deliver grant funded programmes; supporting the delivery of the Council's '1,000 Homes Programme', and engaging with local communities, supporting them to meet their local housing needs.

Officers manage a complex pipeline of schemes and projects and are tasked with finding innovative ways to increase growth and unlock stalled sites, including supporting Registered Provider partners to acquire sites and bring them forward using subsidy.  Officers use negotiation skills and undertake detailed assessments of housing need to secure an appropriate mix of affordable housing on each site. Officers provide advice on development viability to the wider Local Planning Authority and provide essential support and advice to those looking to buy or sell an affordable home. 

We are passionate about supporting our residents and wider communities, and as part of the role, we’ll encourage you to work proactively with town and parish councils, community groups and other local stakeholders to help increase the provision of affordable housing.  We also believe in empowering communities to provide their own housing through local Community Led Housing groups, as well as supporting financially through Revolving Loan and Land Remediation funds.

About us:

Cornwall Council believes that the provision of high quality of housing, of all tenures, as it is essential to the long-term sustainability of the County.  

Providing homes to meet the local need has been a top priority for the Council since its creation in 2009.  Recently, the Council has decided to take a more active role in the overall growth agenda by setting an ambitious target to directly provide 1,000 new homes, including affordable and open market housing, by June 2021.

Significant resources have been committed to achieve this, including:

• Committing to the delivery of at least 3,000 homes per year (of all tenures) through the Cornwall Local Plan;
• A rolling 3-year investment programme with Registered Provider partners of £15.906m, to fund new affordable housing;
• Loan and grant funding for community-led housing organisations;
• Commercial development partnerships with major housebuilders to bring forward under-utilised public land;
• The creation of a new ‘council housing’ development programme totalling some £65m, within the Housing Revenue Account (HRA); 
• The direct development of new extra care housing schemes;
• Establishing our Housing Development Programme of some £200m to provide private rented, open market sale and affordable homes; and,
• Creation of a new wholly owned development company (Treveth Holdings LLP) to help us deliver the homes we need throughout Cornwall most effectively.

To achieve such an ambitious programme of growth, we need to recruit additional people to ensure that the housing needs of our communities are met.

What can we offer?

As one of the largest Local Authorities in the UK, we offer a range of benefits for prospective employees.  We are also keen to provide opportunities for career progression and training and offer an excellent pension scheme. For more information on these benefits, please have a look at what we offer.

If you are interested in joining us on our journey, then we want to hear from you!!!

About You

We are looking for people who are passionate and driven about housing delivery, who can help us (and our partners) realise the potential for affordable housing growth in Cornwall.  A good understanding of affordable housing delivery and the housing market is important; membership of a relevant professional body (CIH, RICS, RTPI etc.) would be advantageous.

Please view the role profile, your application will need to demonstrate how you meet the required criteria.

For this recruitment please do not upload any additional documentation in support of this application.  Applications will be considered based on the screening questions and qualifications and experience provided within the application form, and any further attachments will not be considered when the recruiting managers are shortlisting for interview.

"Whilst the location/work-base for this role has been specified, the current Government guidance around social distancing and our evolving ways of working means that the role may require you to also work remotely (e.g. from home/other locations). We will discuss this with you during the recruitment process.”