My route into housing

A relative latecomer to the party, my career in Social Housing didn’t start until I was in my mid 30’s. Until that point, I had carved out a career in the consumer finance arena, more specifically, Debt Management and Asset Recovery. I enjoyed this work but couldn’t shake the feeling I wanted to do something more “meaningful”.

Following redundancy, I interviewed for the role of income officer within a couple of different Housing Associations, to be told I was pipped at the post by someone who already had housing experience. Undeterred, I was finally successful in my application to Sanctuary Housing, a large organisation with over 100,000 properties. Here I spent my time learning about the sector, and the welfare benefits system. The rent collecting aspect came second nature to me; debt is a debt, right? What I failed to acknowledge or appreciate in my early days in Housing, is the human element.

The human stories and hardships I encountered were real, and went far beyond the ‘can’t pay, won’t pay’ analogy I had become familiar with from my Debt Collecting days. As a Housing professional you are many things, a social worker, a money advisor, a mental health worker, an educator, an advocate. It’s a complex and far-reaching sector, concerned with so much more than bricks and mortar.

Having noticed a trend between first tenancies and rent arrears cases, I became interested in the quality of pre-tenancy training on offer, and being a qualified post 16 trainers, I secured a position with Crisis, the homeless charity, as a Pre Tenancy Skills Trainer. This employment saw me deliver accredited pre-tenancy courses to a vulnerably housed client group, covering topics such as ‘making a house a home’, ‘budgeting and money advice’, and ‘tenant/landlord responsibilities’ to name a few. The aim is to equip people with the necessary life skills required to sustain a tenancy.

From Crisis, I returned to be an Income Officer, this time for a relatively small organisation with circa 5,500 properties, Muir Group Housing Association. Being a smaller organisation meant exposure to all departments and the opportunity for promotion, and to lead on operational and strategic housing issues. Gaining valuable experience in management, governance, financial budgets, health and safety compliance, and locality planning made for a very varied, challenging and satisfying role.

This position sparked my interest in the corporate governance aspect of housing and to galvanise my knowledge I undertook a CIH Level 7 qualification: a Post Graduate Certificate in Housing Studies. I was very fortunate to secure a Butlers Bursary – named after the CIH’s former president and CEO, David Butler. Sponsored by Ocean Media Group, the course was accredited by De Montfort University. Securing a position on the Tenant Services Board at Cartrefi Conwy, a stock transfer Housing Association in North Wales was a practical complement to this course of study and enabled me to contribute to the strategic direction of the organisation.

I have held an array of roles within the sector that demonstrates the variety and development opportunities available, regardless of background or skillset. Housing can accommodate all. As both a recruiter and a candidate myself, I have witnessed a change in Housing Associations seeking transferable skills external candidates can bring. It makes sense to seek out transferable skills from outside the sector, as Housing is so diverse. It has so much to offer as a profession, providing challenges, self-development, variety, a competitive salary and a social purpose.