POST TITLE: Homechoice Assistant

SECTION: Housing

SALARY: Grade 6 £26,840 - £28,434

Location: Maidstone, Kent

Contract: Full-time / Permanent

About the Role:

The Homechoice Team are looking for an administration assistant to help deliver the Council’s housing allocation scheme fairly and consistently so that residents can access the affordable housing of their choice.

Working closely with our customers and partners through our choice-based lettings scheme, Kent Homechoice, you will help customers secure their new homes, ensuring that housing register applications are checked and verified to ensure that our policies are met.

The position is full-time, working 37 hours per week on a permanent basis. We offer a hybrid working arrangement, combining the flexibility to work from home with time in the office as required.

About Maidstone Borough Council:

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
- Additional 3 days’ leave given to enable a close down 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, and 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 & 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 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

About You:

You will provide a key role in providing high-quality administrative support to the Homechoice Team, including gathering the supporting evidence required to enable the processing of online housing register applications, updating of applicants’ records and dealing with general correspondence.

Your experience of working in a challenging front-line customer service role will help you to remain calm under pressure while delivering the highest levels of customer service. You will also have experience of maintaining accurate records and producing statistical information using a variety of IT packages.

If you feel you meet the requirements of the post and are ready for a new and exciting challenge, then we’d like to hear from you.

Essential Requirements

- Educated to a good general standard (minimum of 4 GCSEs or equivalent)
- Good customer care and communication skills, both written and verbal
- Excellent administrative skills, with accuracy and attention to detail
- Ability to present information in a logical and sequential manner
- Highly organised, ability to prioritise, manage and complete a variety of tasks in a busy environment
- Ability to assess and apply knowledge and information about services
- IT literacy, including proficiency in using Microsoft Office and spreadsheets

Selection Process:

Following the submission of your application form, it will be reviewed by the recruiting manager. Those that are successful in securing an interview can expect a job specific interview assessment, followed by an interview.

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.

The Council considers that the successful applicant will have access to the Government’s secure network and will need to have a Baseline Personnel Security Standard check completed. In addition to the normal pre-employment checks, this requires a criminal record check for unspent convictions and verification of employment history for the preceding 3 years. Where the 3 years of employment history cannot be verified through the most recent employment reference, you will need to provide a copy of your HMRC PAYE record for the 3 year period and will need to explain the reasons for any gaps in employment.

If you would like to discuss this position, please contact Anita Birring, Senior Homechoice Officer, on 01622 602581.

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: 15th June 2026
Interview Date: w/c 29 June 2026