Role of the housing officer

Recommendation four of the Better Social Housing Review (BSHR):

Chartered Institute of Housing should promote the traditional housing officer role as a supported and valued employment opportunity with a Chartered Institute of Housing recognised programme of training and continuing development.

As the professional body for the housing sector, CIH represents and supports housing professionals from across the UK through every step of their career journey. Our membership is drawn from the full range of housing roles, from chief executives to housing trainees, and everywhere in between. Leading on recommendation four of the Better Social Housing Review was a natural fit for CIH as this is an area that we are incredibly passionate about and invested in.

The Review found that staff, particularly those in first contact roles, are working under exceptional pressures and demands, leading to high turnover rates and making it harder for many tenants to communicate with their landlord. The Review recommended social landlords should increase investment in recruitment, retention, and development of more housing officers to enable them to better deliver services to tenants. At the same time, it also recognised the need for workforces to foster diversity, and so asked landlords to ensure any development opportunities were introduced without barriers or marginalisation of those from ethnic backgrounds or with disabilities.

In tandem with this, the government’s drive to introduce a new Competence and Conduct Standard has pushed professionalism even further up the agenda. Once introduced, the Standard will require senior housing managers and directors to attain a housing qualification, and every social housing provider to have a written policy on their approach towards skills, knowledge, development and conduct of their staff.

When taken together these represent a genuine opportunity to refocus the profession, placing a commitment to qualifications, and continuing professional development at the core of service delivery. It is important that the focus on the housing officer role and the need to promote diversity and professionalism in the sector go hand in hand.

At CIH we have provided a range of webinars and conference sessions on the role of the housing officer. These are designed to promote, educate, and inform, alongside raising the profile of the role and development options available for new and existing professionals.

This work has sat alongside a focus on strengthening our existing offer for housing professionals working in customer facing roles. We have a well-established continuing professional development offer, which enables housing colleagues to access products and services to develop their knowledge and skills, professional behaviours, and to demonstrate they are working to recognised codes of conduct and ethics. Everything we provide is designed to give our members access to best practice and contribute to the broader work of the sector.

Our CIH Level 2 and 3 qualifications provide a framework to help housing professionals enhance their skills and knowledge. These qualifications are well established and are reviewed and updated on a regular basis to ensure they remain relevant and open to all.

Continuing professional development is a key component of ensuring housing professionals have the opportunity to update their knowledge and skills. We have developed guidance on this for various roles, including frontline workers, and have included sample career development frameworks for organisations to use as a basis for developing their own systems internally.

We have been able to combine these elements, creating bespoke solutions for organisations’ particular requirements, embedding qualifications, training and professionalism across their frontline functions.

We are delighted to work with and showcase the fantastic work of our members and the organisations they work for to promote the role of the housing officer and its centrality to the delivery of high-quality housing services.

We know the role of a housing officer can be a challenging one. We also know that when properly supported by an employer and CIH it is one in which people can achieve so much and make a considerable difference to people’s lives. It is the very essence of the profession and I call on all housing professionals across the sector to promote, support and develop the housing officers of the present and future.

Read more on the Better Social Housing Review