Income Officer

Job Title: Income Officer

Contract: Full Time Permanent

Hours: 38 hours per week

Salary: £34,578 per annum

Location: NE London.

About Outward.

For 50 years, Outward has been providing high-quality support and care services to vulnerable people across London, predominantly in North East London. Established by families seeking alternatives to institutional care, we’ve grown into a respected provider of person-centred support for adults with learning disabilities, autism, mental health needs, and complex needs. We support over 1,000 people across nine boroughs, guided by our core values: engage, enable, and empower.

Outward is proud to be an accredited Living Wage Employer. This means we are committed to paying the Real Living Wage – not just the government minimum or national living wage – to our frontline Support Workers and other eligible staff. We recognise the value of the work our teams do, and we are committed to ensuring fair pay that reflects the true cost of living. The Real Living Wage is updated annually by the Living Wage Foundation, and Outward remains committed to aligning our pay accordingly.

About the Role

We are looking for a proactive and passionate Income Officer to join our dedicated team, supporting adults with a range of needs. These include learning disabilities, people with lived experience of rough sleeping, young people, older people, autism, mental health challenges, and individuals with complex support requirements.

As an Income Officer, you will play a key role in empowering the people we support to live independent and fulfilling lives. You will work as part of the Income Management Team, supporting the reduction of rent and service charge arrears across our services.

The role involves a varied caseload, with responsibilities that may change depending on where support is most needed. You will be expected to work flexibly, focusing on maximising income, supporting customers to sustain their tenancies, and helping them access appropriate advice and financial support.

You will work towards agreed targets, regularly report on performance to the Income & Service Charge Manager, and ensure your work aligns with Outward’s core values of Engage, Enable, and Empower.

Your Responsibilities

As an Income Officer, you will:

·         Maximise receipt of rent and service charge income by ensuring that housing benefit claims are set up and maintained, monitoring rent accounts and taking steps to recover arrears. This will include liaising with housing benefit and support providers, negotiating repayment agreements and providing welfare benefit advice and debt advice to tenants where needed.

·         Be responsible for the collection of rent and service charges on your allocated patch and carry out debt recovery actions including management of former tenants’ arrears.

·         Maintain the electronic rent system ensuring that all actions and communications regarding rent payments and arrears are fully recorded and records are kept fully up to date.

·         To keep abreast of legislation, regulations, and Outward’s policy and procedural framework that affect charges, benefits and entitlements.

·         With approval from the Income & Service Charge Manager prepare and serve Notices of Intention to Seek Possession documents and where necessary, prepare court action reports and attend court.

·         Take responsibility for the new tenant sign up process liaising with partner agencies to ensure that the process is carried out efficiently to minimise voids. This includes the preparation of tenancy agreements, handbooks and Information packs for new tenants.

·         Explain the terms of the occupancy agreement to new residents at the point of sign- up and support them to understand their rights and obligations under that agreement.

·         Provide advice and guidance to support and housing department staff and where the new tenant sign-up process has been devolved.

·         Work collaboratively with supported housing officers and support staff to address and resolve rent and service charge payments and arrears.

·         Develop and maintain proactive relationships with advice agencies and other statutory and voluntary organisations to ensure that appropriate support and advice is available to residents.

·         Attend liaison meetings with Housing Benefit when required.

·         Ensure that all administration connected with tenancy termination is completed and all systems updated.

·         Assist with the administration of annual rent increases. Including amending Direct Debits and liaising with local authority HB departments and with residents to adjust standing orders.

·         Develop and maintain good working relationships with Newlon Housing Trust and other partner landlords.

·         Maintain appropriate records and administrative systems in relation to this role and prepare reports for the Income & Service Charge Manager and the Supported Housing Director when required.

·         Promote and implement the Outward Equal Opportunities Policy in all aspects of the post holder’s work and dealings with outside bodies.

·         Participate in regular supervision and annual appraisal, attend training and meetings as required and contribute to identifying your own job related development and training needs

·         To work responsibly and appropriately with due regard to confidentiality, data protection and commercially sensitive information.

·         To undertake your role in a professional manner maintaining a high quality standard of work, and to always work in accordance with the aims, values and ethos of Outward.

·         Undertake any other duties commensurate with the general level of responsibility of the post as required by the Income & Service Charge Manager or Supported Housing Director.

Essential Criteria

·         Knowledge of health and safety issues within a supported housing environment

• Understanding of confidentiality, GDPR, and data protection principles
• Staff must have access to a smartphone capable of receiving SMS messages and installing authentication apps for secure systems access
• Right to Work in the UK. Please note: Outward will not provide visa sponsorship.
• Ability to build and maintain positive relationships with a range of internal and external partners.
• Ability to write clear, concise letters and reports
• Ability to plan and organise own workload and meet deadlines
• Good IT skills
• Experience of general administration and record keeping including electronic records.
• Ability to develop collaborative partnerships to promote joint working, best practice and consistency of service delivery
• Experience of working under pressure to meet specific targets
• Experience of effectively managing and responding to complaints.
• The ability to provide welfare benefit and debt management advice.
• The ability to attend court and represent the landlord at DIY possession hearings.
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• Ability to establish and maintain housing benefit claims and negotiate arrears repayment agreements with tenants.
• Able to plan and organise own workload and meet deadlines
• An understanding of and, commitment to equal opportunities in service delivery and employment.
• A good understanding of the supported housing sector and the delivery of housing related support.
• An understanding of and commitment to resident consultation and involvement.
• The ability to work both as part of a team and independently.

·         Desirable Criteria

• Front line experience of rent collection and account monitoring
• Experience of using CX rent accounting system or similar

·         Experience of using rent sense or similar

·         Experience of presenting rent arrears cases in court

·         Experience of DIY court possession proceedings

·         Knowledge of Housing Law

·         A working knowledge of welfare benefits

·         A good understanding of the supported housing sector and the delivery of housing related support

·         Experience of signing up tenants.

·         CIH Level 4 in housing management or equivalent

How to Apply

The above is not an exhaustive list of requirements for the role.

If you think you are who we are looking for, please submit a CV and statement detailing how you feel your experiences meets the requirements of the role by referring to the Job Responsibilities and the Person Specification.

There is no specific closing date for this advert. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a sufficient number of suitable applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible. It would be great to hear from you.

When you join us, you’ll have access to a wide range of benefits to support your wellbeing, development and work–life balance, including:

• Comprehensive Learning and Development Programme
• Pension Scheme
• Cycle‑to‑Work Scheme
• Blue Light Discounts Card
• Eye Care Vouchers
• Flu Jab Reimbursement
• Health Assured Employee Assistance Programme
• Option to purchase additional annual leave
• Refer‑a‑Friend Scheme
• Long Service Awards
• Discounted holidays at Nutley Edge Cottages
• Credit Union Scheme
• Outward Computing Scheme
• Death in Service Benefit

Full details of our rewards and benefits are available from our HR Team and through our Staff Room intranet.

Diversity and Safeguarding at Outward:

We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community.

Outward applies its Equal Opportunities Policy at all stages of recruitment and selection.  Shortlisting, interviewing and selection is carried out without regard to gender, sexual orientation, marital status, colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origins, religion or belief, age or trade union membership. 

As an employer, who aspire to become Disability Confident Committed, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview. Please indicate clearly at the beginning of your supporting statement if you have a disability (as defined by the Equality Act 2010), and you wish to be considered for an Offer of an Interview (OOI) Please note that the OOI is available to disabled candidates only. Regrettably, any false declaration of disability to secure an interview will impact on your overall application.

Outward is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of adults at risk and expects all staff to share this commitment. If the post you apply for involves working with or having access to adults at risk and/or their records, we will require a DBS for successful candidates.