Housing Lawyer

£42,074 - £44,627 per annum plus excellent benefits

Walsall,West Midlands

Permanent, Full time - 37 hours per week (agile working)

Closing Date: 8th December 2021

We are looking for a talented and motivated housing lawyer who is either a qualified barrister, solicitor or Legal Executive to join our in-house Legal Services Team, preferably with 3 years’ PQE.

You will be handling a wide range of housing litigation from inception to closure. Join a supportive and friendly environment whilst having the autonomy to develop a real specialism within the team. This is an  opportunity for a driven lawyer looking to develop their career and join a thriving and collaborative Social Housing team. You will work closely with a talented team where you can make a real difference.

You will lead, advise and support on a caseload of housing management issues, including tenancy enforcement and especially stock condition claims.  You will support the Legal Services Team in all areas of housing litigation and residential property issues.  The role includes preparing pleadings and applications, drafting witness statements and orders, negotiating liability, instructing Counsel and dealing often with technical correspondence at all stages. There will also be opportunities for advocacy, representing whg and possession hearings and other civil claims.

You should have recent experience in a similar role, ideally including possession claims based on tenancy breaches and housing condition claims based on disrepair. A good knowledge of Civil Procedure Rules, Practice Directions and Pre-Action Protocols is important.  You must be a committed team player, able to adapt well to new challenges.  We prize the ability to learn quickly, to be a self-starter and to work flexibly to meet business needs. You must be able to travel to court serving the areas in which whg owns properties.

Initially the role will require presence at our head office full-time, but this may transition into a hybrid-working model with some time spent working from home.

About us

Our People Strategy presents a clear picture of how we will achieve our Corporate Plan aim to, ‘Be an exceptional place to work that attracts, develops and retains talent’. The Strategy focuses on three key themes that help us support our colleagues to make a difference to our customers, the communities we serve and to themselves.

It is important to us that we have a diverse workforce, representative of the communities we serve. Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) to us means colleagues living our values, dedicated to doing the right thing and exercising good judgement. This will encourage a culture where all can thrive, acknowledging that everyone is different; what matters to us is that everyone can come to work and feel comfortable to be themselves.

We are proud to be accredited as a Disability Confident Employer and ensure that disabled people and those with long term health conditions have the opportunity to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations while working with us. By using the Disability Confident logo, we make it clear that we welcome disabled applicants for all our roles.

We will ensure that our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible, and we will interview applicants with a disability if they meet the essential criteria for a role. We will also support existing colleagues with a disability or long-term health condition enabling them to stay in work, making reasonable adjustments if necessary.

whg is committed to safer recruitment and to the protection and safeguarding of children, young people and vulnerable adults and will conduct appropriate background checks where necessary.