Housing Development Manager

ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT

Hope at Home is a charity that provides safe homes for survivors of modern slavery by offering a range of innovative accommodation options in collaboration with other organisations throughout the UK. To date, Hope at Home accommodation has been offered exclusively through a hosting scheme designed to provide short-term accommodation in other people’s homes. This addresses an acute need while survivors are still going through or at the end of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and who are at risk of homelessness. Our support to individuals with no recourse to public funds has filled a critical gap in the sector. Following a detailed feasibility study we are piloting a housing project that will manage houses to enable more survivors of Modern Slavery to access safe accommodation in combination with wrap around, needs based support and advocacy.

ROLE SUMMARY

This is an exciting new role joining Hope at Home’s Senior Leadership Team with the scope to make a real difference in people’s lives and shape the direction of the charity.  The postholder will work closely with the Operations Director, CEO and a range of stakeholders to manage the development and day-to-day running of Hope at Home’s housing service.

You will be joining the charity in an exciting period as we are embarking on setting Hope at Home’s new three-year strategy in a collaborative process that your role will directly feed into and will be guided by input from our service users.

Planning the project set up

Over the first 6 months of the role and in conjunction with the CEO and Operations Director, you will plan and begin execution of the housing pilot.  This will include the development of a fully costed project plan.

Part of the project set up will include working with a wide range of stakeholders:  Local Authorities, Landlords or housing providers, Registered Providers, Funders and relevant regulatory bodies. 

You will be responsible for securing the use of suitable properties, working with contractors to ensure maintenance and establishing all relevant policies and procedures to ensure legal compliance and best practice are followed as well as developing standard operating procedures for service delivery.

With excellent communication skills and working knowledge, you will establish relationships with relevant Housing Benefit departments to ensure income is secured on behalf of our residents and work on gaining Supported Exempt Accommodation Status.

Planning for service delivery

Your role will involve the development and oversight of case management support to all residents, including recruiting and line managing support workers.

Taking into account the wishes and needs of the residents, you will develop a high-quality service which meets regulatory standards and compliance with Regulator of Social Housing Standards.

As a pilot, you will work in conjunction with the Operations Director to monitor outcomes and evaluate the service to ensure we are meeting agreed expectations.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Development

• Liaison - develop excellent working relations with a range of partners to satisfy the above criteria and specifically work with dispersal contractors, registered providers and LA’s to set up referral routes / communication.
• Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning- developing systems and processes to be able to report key performance indicators for the residents and various types of housing.

Managing Properties

• Procurement – work with prospective landlords, organisations and investors to procure new properties.
• Regulatory – compliance with all current and future regulatory requirements affecting landlords including licencing, gas safety, electrical certification, fire safety, pat testing etc.
• Maintenance – ensuring a satisfactory system of maintenance, inspections, furnishing, and general upkeep of all properties and liaison with landlords as required. This may include the use of contractors so the planning and appropriate management of these works will be required.

Staff Management

• Recruitment - work with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to recruit suitably qualified and experienced Support Workers to provide casework support to residents.
• Supervision - undertake staff supervisions, support and performance appraisals for the Support Workers, ensure consistent delivery of the work allocated to the Support Workers, appropriate record keeping and that staff are appropriately trained and maintain any required qualifications, manage staff relations, workloads, performance and health and safety.

Collaborative Working

• Reporting – ensuring all information is up to date on internal database, contributing to reports for funders, bids, evaluation and management reports.
• Liaison – with statutory services such as Local Authorities: Environmental Health departments, Housing Benefit teams; landlords forums; DWP and JCP and other forums.
• Relationship Building  - establishing new relationships with housing providers.

Working with Residents

• Trauma Informed - Our work is underpinned by trauma-informed working and you will be upholding this through our work with residents.
• Safeguarding  - along with other staff, ensuring safeguarding policies are upheld across the organisation.

OTHER

• Ensuring the vision, mission, values and ethos of Hope at Home are upheld across the organisation and externally (see below for more details).
• Attending meetings and training courses as required, including regular supervision meetings, ad hoc attendance at Board meetings and annual appraisal.
• Travel across UK for meetings as and when required.
• Undertake from time to time such other tasks as may be required including some administrative duties in connection with the post.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Below are four tables outlining the Experience, Personal Qualities, Skills and Knowledge that are either essential or desirable for applicants to have.

Other

• In possession of a UK driving licence and use of own car.
• Being an active member of the Out of Hours cover arrangements.

Note:  This job description is not exhaustive and will be subject to periodic review.  It may be amended to meet the changing needs of the business.  The post-holder will be expected to participate in this process, and we would aim to reach agreement on any changes.

TO APPLY

For more information and an application pack, please visit Careers - Hope at Home - A Hosting Scheme for Survivors of Slavery

Please send a covering letter, which should clearly show how you meet the skills and experience outlined in the person specification along with your CV to:  susie@hopeathome.org.uk 

Closing date:                               15^th December 2024

First stage interviews:              8^th and 9^th January 2025

Second stage interviews week beginning: 13^th January

*Hope at Home is committed to inclusive employment practices, and we encourage applications from people who have lived experience of the issues our organisation addresses as well as applicants from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities.  There is no requirement to disclose lived experience.  We encourage applicants to think creatively about how to demonstrate you meet the requirements of the person specification.  We are looking for talented people who align with our values and support our mission – there are no barriers to how you demonstrate this. If invited to interview, all questions will be sent in advance and the interview will be a panel of two.

Note: This position requires you to undergo a DBS check. As an organisation using the DBS to assess applicants’ suitability for positions of trust, the organisation undertakes to comply fully with the DBS Code of Practice and to treat all applicants for positions fairly.