At Lewisham Homes, we believe in building on potential. As an Independent Living Officer, your ability to provide advice to tenants that promotes individual independence, opportunities, choice and dignity could have a real impact on people’s lives.

Lewisham Homes is an ambitious not-for-profit organisation focused on improving housing in the borough. As well as managing 19,000 homes on behalf of Lewisham Council. We aim to provide a better experience and more opportunities for residents, communities – and the dedicated people who join our growing team.

As an Independent Living Officer, you will be responsible for ensuring that effective, customer focused housing management services are provided to older tenants in the borough living in sheltered housing schemes, so that they are able to sustain their tenancies.

If successful the main duties of your role will be:

• Undertake needs and risks assessments of potential new tenants to ascertain suitability for sheltered housing, and to liaise with Lettings on outcomes.

• Undertake accompanied viewings, sign ups and settling in visits of new tenants.

• Provide new tenants with information on the Linkline Telecare system, and ensure they are familiar with emergency procedures, and facilities within the scheme.

• Provide residents with day to day housing advice, sign posting to relevant services and making appropriate referrals to help them sustain their tenancy.

• Ensure contact with residents on a regular basis and on a frequency determined by their individual circumstances, needs and choices, and ensure all contact details including those of relatives are maintained and updated.

• Ensure tenants are kept fully informed about issues that affect them, and organise and attend meetings for tenants.

• Assist residents with completion of application forms for benefit entitlement, reporting repairs etc, and accessing services.

• Build good working relationships with the Tenants Associations, other agencies and organisations to encourage, enable and support the facilitation of social events and activities.

• Provide immediate support to victims of all types of anti-social behaviour and work closely with the housing officers and Anti- social behaviour officers

• Establish and maintain effective relationships with health, social care and voluntary agencies providing services to residents, including Linkline Telecare.

• Ensure regular Health and Safety checks are undertaken and logged for all communal areas and report any repairs or other issues to the appropriate team, and monitor their resolution.

• Undertake weekly fire alarm tests, periodic evacuation drills, and ensure that information contained within the buildings red box with regard to the building and residents is regularly reviewed and updated for use by emergency services.

• Ensure the health and safety, and wellbeing of tenants including taking appropriate action on any potential safeguarding concerns, in according with the safeguarding procedure.

• Ensure high levels of customer satisfaction and service by being enthusiastic and customer focused and live the Lewisham Homes values.

• Provide, interpret and present as required, timely, regular management information.

• Complete work in accordance with agreed targets and timescales

• Participate fully and effectively in team working and contribute to a culture of continuous performance improvement.

• Comply with the requirements of the MPC process and undertake such development activities as are required to improve performance and ensure that service objectives are met, undertake specific projects as part of individual development.

• Take responsibility for own learning and development to ensure an effective value added contribution to the service and organisations’ objectives are maintained.

• Comply with all Lewisham Homes policies, including contractual standing orders, financial regulation and all HR policies and procedures in particular Health and safety and Equality and diversity.

Please note this is a 36 hour, 4-5 month fixed term contract to cover a secondment within the organisation.

We expect everyone at Lewisham Homes to be eager to learn new skills and to help others. As a major local employer with over 500 staff, we are committed to providing opportunities for personal development, plus flexible and agile working to help us to continue to embrace wellbeing. We also offer benefits including: season ticket loan, 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays, health & wellbeing benefits and membership of the local government pension scheme.

Lewisham Homes is committed to continuing to create an inclusive working environment, promoting and providing equal opportunities in employment, respecting diversity and avoiding unlawful discrimination during the recruitment process and the employment lifecycle. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified/experienced individuals regardless of their race, gender identity, biological sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age.

This role is agile working with some days being office based.

For more information about Lewisham Homes and this opportunity, please visit our website.