Disrepair solicitor

First Choice Homes Oldham; Oldham; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work options

30 days annual leave + 8 bank holidays

Pension scheme with up to 10% employer

Healthcare cash plan

Private health insurance

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

24/7 GP access (Doctorline)

Wellbeing room and on-site café

Long service awards

Job summary

First Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO) is recruiting a Disrepair Solicitor to join our in-house Legal team and manage housing disrepair matters from investigation to settlement and trial when required.

You will work across Repairs, Asset Management, Housing and Complaints to resolve claims, provide practical legal advice and help reduce costs and risk while ensuring safe, decent homes for residents.

Qualifications

• Qualified Solicitor in England and Wales.
• Extensive knowledge of housing disrepair law, civil procedure and pre-action protocols.
• Experience managing housing disrepair claims from initial instruction through to trial.
• Strong costs risk knowledge, including Mazur and related authorities.
• High-quality drafting skills across pleadings, witness statements and settlement documents.
• Experience in County Court litigation and handling complex matters.
• Ability to assess legal risk alongside cost, reputation and resident impact.

Responsibilities

• Manage housing disrepair cases from initial investigation through to strategy, negotiation and settlement.
• Identify cases suitable for early resolution to minimise costs and resident detriment.
• Draft pleadings, witness statements, schedules of works, settlement agreements and costs documents.
• Provide practical legal advice to internal teams on disrepair risk and compliance.
• Instruct, manage and monitor external solicitors, counsel and experts as needed.
• Ensure compliance with legislation and guidance, including Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and Homes Act 2018.
• Contribute to policy development for disrepair management.

Skills

Housing disrepair law

Civil litigation

Case management

Legal drafting

Communication

Education

Qualified Solicitor in England & Wales

Job description

Contract: Permanent

Hours: 37 hours per week

About the role

First Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO) has an exciting opportunity for a Disrepair Solicitor to join our Legal team and help manage and resolve housing disrepair matters in-house.

This is a key role where you will manage a varied disrepair caseload from initial investigation through to negotiation, settlement and, where required, trial. You will provide practical, commercially aware legal advice that helps FCHO meet its statutory obligations, minimise legal and financial risk and continue providing safe, decent and well-maintained homes for residents.

Working closely with colleagues across Repairs, Asset Management, Housing and Complaints, you will support early resolution, reduce avoidable escalation and help embed learning from claims across the organisation.

Please see the full Job Description attached at the bottom of this page.

The impact you’ll make

You will

• Manage housing disrepair cases from initial investigation and liability assessment through to strategy, negotiation and settlement.
• Identify cases suitable for early resolution to minimise costs exposure and resident detriment.
• Draft pleadings, witness statements, schedules of works, settlement agreements and costs-related documents.
• Apply a strong understanding of post-Mazur litigation risks and costs implications to case strategy.
• Reduce adverse costs outcomes through early engagement, robust defence where appropriate and strategic settlement.
• Instruct, manage and monitor external solicitors, counsel and experts where required.
• Provide practical legal advice to Repairs, Asset Management, Housing and Complaints teams on disrepair risk and compliance.
• Ensure compliance with relevant legislation and guidance, including the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018.
• Support the development of policies, procedures and standard operating practices for disrepair management.
• Identify root causes, trends and service improvement opportunities from claims data, costs and outcomes.

You will be a qualified solicitor with strong housing disrepair and civil litigation experience, able to manage a busy caseload while providing clear, practical and risk-aware advice.

• Qualified Solicitor in England and Wales.
• Extensive knowledge of housing disrepair law, civil procedure and pre-action protocols.
• Experience managing housing disrepair claims from initial instruction through to trial.
• Strong knowledge of costs risk, including the implications of Mazur and related authorities.
• High-quality drafting skills across pleadings, witness statements, legal correspondence and settlement documentation.
• Experience of County Court litigation and confidence handling complex or contested matters.
• Sound judgment when assessing whether to defend, settle or elevate a case.
• The ability to assess legal risk alongside cost, reputation and resident impact.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex legal matters clearly to non-legal colleagues.
• Experience working collaboratively with client departments to agree tactics and align working methods.
• A resilient, calm and pragmatic approach in a high-volume litigation environment.
• High standards of integrity, confidentiality and professionalism.

First Choice Homes Oldham is a housing association providing safe, affordable and high-quality homes across Oldham and the surrounding areas. We own and manage more than 11,500 homes and are proud to hold the highest G1/V1 regulatory rating.

Our work is focused on providing quality homes, excellent services and thriving communities. We care deeply about our customers, colleagues and neighbourhoods and are committed to improving lives across Oldham.

What’s in it for you?

• A salary of £50,000 per annum.
• A 37-hour working week with hybrid working options.
• 30 days’ annual leave plus 8 bank holidays.
• Option to purchase additional annual leave.
• Defined contribution pension scheme with up to 10% employer contribution and salary exchange option.
• Healthcare cash plan covering dental, optical and physiotherapy treatments.
• Private health insurance.
• Employee Assistance Programme offering 24-hour confidential support.
• Doctorline, giving you and your family 24/7 GP access.
• Access to our colleague benefits platform, including retail discounts and wellbeing tools.
• Discounted gym membership.
• Professional subscriptions paid where essential for the role.
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and sick pay.
• Access to our on-site wellbeing room and café.
• Long service awards.

Interested?

If you are an experienced Disrepair Solicitor who wants to use your legal expertise to improve outcomes for residents, manage risk and help strengthen an in-house legal service, we’d love to hear from you.

Inclusion and accessibility

We are committed to building an organisation that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives and skills, and we are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. As an equal opportunities employer, FCHO is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective colleagues and does not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership.

We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join us.

We care that you have a great experience with us at FCHO. If you need us to make any reasonable adjustments to make your experience smoother, please let us know and we’ll do all we can.

The Company

AtFirst Choice Homes Oldham, we’re all about being a community anchor organisation and making a positive difference where we work.

Our dedicated team delivers this every day through good quality, affordable homes, excellent services and thriving communities for customers living in our 11,500 homes across Oldham and surrounding boroughs.

We’re a significant employer in the local area and we’re ambitious to grow. We ensure colleagues enjoy working at FCHO, are developed and can build careers for successful futures.

Join us and become a part of a team passionate about providing homes we are proud of and improving lives.

The Benefits

30 days holiday

Family friendly policies

Our People

• Chris Goode
• Project Manager, Investment Delivery

"I've had great opportunities to learn and progress by working with internal and external partners to make a real difference to our homes and customers' lives."

“I enjoy helping our customers and working across teams to provide essential services for their homes.”

“There are so many opportunities to learn and develop new skills.”