POST TITLE: Housing Enabling Officer
SECTION: Homechoice & Strategy
SALARY: Grade 8 £31,382 - £34,043 pa pro rata
LOCATION: Maidstone, Kent
CONTRACT: Part Time/Perm

About the Role:

A new and unique opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and highly motivated individual to join the Council’s Homechoice & Strategy Team, supporting and enabling the delivery of affordable housing for Maidstone Borough Council.

You will be responsible for assisting with affordable housing negotiations for new housing developments within the borough to ensure that suitable units are provided for applicants awaiting social housing on the housing register. This will include attending pre-application meetings and responding to planning application consultation requests.

You will be responsible for the collation, analysing and reporting of information required for both internal departments and external agencies. Your excellent research skills and your ability to rapidly gather, assimilate, and analyse information will be paramount in assisting with the formulation of the Housing Strategy and other key housing documents.

Your excellent communication and interpersonal skills will assist you in liaising with other agencies across Kent who will be involved in delivering the Affordable Housing Programme, including KCC, health, the voluntary sector and other high profile national organisations.

This is a part time role, working 22 hours per week, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday on a permanent contract.

About You:

You will have experience of working in a housing environment and the ability to deal with multiple complex issues at any time, with good organisation skills. The role requires the ability to effectively manage competing priorities in order to deliver the best possible service. You will also have experience of maintaining accurate records and producing statistical information using a variety of IT packages.

About Us:

Maidstone Borough Council is a confident organisation with ambition and aspirations to deliver high-quality services to our residents and local businesses. We strive to make the borough an attractive place for all and secure a successful economy. We continue to build on our strengths - assets, knowledge, and expertise and our track record for innovation and improvement to create a financially sustainable future so that we can continue with our undiminished plans.

We will only achieve the results we are aiming for through the talents and hard work of all our people. You are encouraged to become part of our vision, and in return, you can expect support, training and fair reward from us. We will give you the opportunity to develop the skills to do your job well and create a positive working environment where your ideas about improving how we do things are valued, and we manage the changes needed for new ways of working well.

At Maidstone Borough Council, we recognise the importance of flexible working and the benefits this can bring to both our staff and the Council. We know that by offering employees a range of flexible working opportunities, we can positively impact their wellbeing and engagement, and drive productivity in return. As such, we have developed a highly flexible hybrid working policy, alongside our flexi time and flexible working policies, enabling staff to shape their working patterns around building a greater work life balance.

Our Offer:

A range of benefits including:

- Highly flexible hybrid working opportunities
- 7am to 7pm flexi-time to suit personal circumstances for most roles
- Generous holiday entitlement which increases after 5 years' LG service, plus bank holidays with the option to buy additional leave
- An additional 3 days' leave given to enable a closure of the offices between Christmas and New Year
- Free parking
- Range of flexible working opportunities to accommodate people’s home/work life balance, including compressed hours, 9-day fortnight, part time
- Invitations to staff events to celebrate success and support wellbeing that include holistic therapies and outdoor activities
- Employee Assistance Programme, which provides confidential and independent information and access to counsellors
- Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) with valuable life cover and financial protection for your family
- Life Assurance – three times your annual salary (for members of the LGPS)
- Season Ticket Loan - to help with the cost of your rail/bus journey, to & from work
- Lease car salary sacrifice scheme allowing you to lease a brand-new car; the monthly fee includes insurance, servicing and road tax
- Annual flu vaccine
- Cycle to work scheme
- Staff benefits include discounts on leisure, eating out, holidays and shopping
- Excellent learning and career opportunities for committed individuals
- A professional fee payment, if required for the role

Selection Process:

Following the submission of your application form, it will be reviewed by the recruiting manager. Those who are successful will be contacted to attend an interview.

This role is customer-facing, and the ability to converse at ease with customers and provide advice in accurate spoken English is an essential element of the role.

Maidstone Borough Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

For further information or to discuss this opportunity in more detail, please contact Tony Stewart, Housing Solutions Manager on 01622 602546.

To apply for the position, please visit https://www.maidstone.gov.uk/jobs and complete the online application form or by phone on 01622 602555.

Closing Date: 26 May 2025
Interview Date: 10 June 2025