Housing and Estate Assistant

We are seeking a motivated and customer-focused Housing & Estate Assistant to join our Tenant Services team. This is a front-facing role that plays an important part in delivering a high-quality housing management service to residents across the borough.

You will work closely with Housing Officers, internal council teams and external partners to support tenants to sustain their tenancies, prevent homelessness and ensure our landlord responsibilities are met. This is a varied and rewarding role, ideal for someone who enjoys working with people, can manage a busy workload and wants to develop a career in housing.

We seek the best talent from the widest pool of people as diversity and inclusion is the key to our success. Reading Borough Council is a Disability Confident Employer and is committed to the recruitment and continued employment of people with disabilities.

About the role

You'll support the day-to-day operation of housing and estate services, acting as a key point of contact for residents and helping ensure services are delivered efficiently, consistently and in line with statutory and local requirements., Responding to housing-related enquiries across a range of channels, resolving issues wherever possible at first point of contact
Supporting tenancy management activities, including tenancy sign-ups, introductory to secure tenancy processes and straightforward tenancy changes
Booking and supporting property, block and estate inspections and arranging visits for Housing Officers
Processing customer requests such as repairs, payments, key allocations and general housing enquiries within agreed timescales
Maintaining accurate records, scanning documentation and updating housing management systems
Providing low-level tenancy advice and signposting residents to appropriate support services, including welfare, housing support and debt advice
Assisting with estate management activity, neighbourhood engagement and improvement initiatives
Monitoring work trays and workflows to help ensure deadlines, service standards and performance targets are met

The role combines customer service, tenancy administration and estate support. You'll regularly deal with residents who may have complex needs, so empathy, professionalism and the ability to remain calm under pressure are essential., You'll be an organised and approachable individual with a strong commitment to customer service. You will enjoy working with people from diverse backgrounds and take pride in delivering a professional, supportive and reliable service.

You'll be comfortable working independently while also contributing positively as part of a team. You'll be able to prioritise competing demands and deal confidently with sensitive or challenging situations.

You'll bring:

Experience of working in a front-line, customer-focused role, ideally within housing or a similar public-facing service
Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain processes clearly and handle sensitive conversations with empathy.
Experience of managing a busy workload, prioritising tasks and meeting deadlines
Confidence dealing with difficult situations and supporting vulnerable customers
Good written skills and attention to detail, with the ability to maintain clear and accurate records.
Strong IT skills, particularly Microsoft Office / Office 365 and database systems
The ability to work effectively with colleagues, partner organisations and external agencies.

You'll be part of a team that relies on each individual to play their part to the best of their ability. As well as the colleagues that you work closely with every day, you'll also be part of Team Reading, playing your personal part in making Reading a successful and vibrant place., Disability Confident About Disability Confident A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.

We offer a supportive environment to grow and develop your career with the opportunity to put your ideas across. Innovation and ambition is strongly encouraged, and you'll get a great feel for that working in our friendly and collaborative environment.

A competitive salary alongside a range of benefits including:

Generous holiday entitlement - 25 days holiday each year plus bank holidays - rising to 30 days after 5 years' service and 33 days after 10 years' service, with the option to buy additional leave
A wide range of flexible working opportunities
Modern working environment at the Civic Offices in the heart of Reading
Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
Life Assurance - three times your annual salary (for members of the LGPS)
On-site day nursery (Kennet Day nursery) rated outstanding by Ofsted
Season Ticket Loan - a loan to help with the cost of your rail or bus journey, to and from work
Lease car salary sacrifice scheme allowing you to lease a brand new, greener car for three years. The monthly fee includes insurance, servicing and road tax

Please note a Full British Driving Licence is require for this role.