Rent Officer

Valuation Office Agency; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A public sector property agency in Manchester is looking for a Rent Officer to collect rental information, conduct property inspections, and support housing benefits. The successful candidate will conduct regular visits to lettings agents and landlords, apply data protection guidelines, and engage with the community. Opportunities for flexible working and personal development will be provided. The role requires strong interpersonal skills and willingness to travel for inspections across the area.

Benefits

Flexible working hours

Supportive working environment

Qualifications

• Must be willing to travel regularly for property inspections.
• Strong ability to engage with external partners.
• Good written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Conduct visits to lettings agents and landlords to collect information.
• Inspect properties for Housing Benefit determinations.
• Schedule and report on data collection activities.
• Apply Data Protection guidance in data handling.
• Produce Local Housing Allowance rates following established guidelines.
• Manage telephone and email inquiries related to housing benefits.
• Conduct quality assurance processes for ONS outputs.
• Input lettings information using VOA applications.
• Determine valuations for Housing Benefit purposes.
• Register Fair Rents in accordance with legislation.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Data Protection understanding

Analytical skills

Job description

Here at the VOA, we provide a wealth of property related services to the public and this role represents the perfect opportunity to start an exciting career delivering those services. In this role, the post holder will have the opportunity to represent the VOA on regular visits to lettings agents and landlords for the purpose of collecting rental information. Rent Officers have 3 main functions: the Registration of a Fair Rent, rental valuations for Housing Benefit purposes and research and acquisition of a representative sample of residential lettings information. The successful candidate will support a Hub Manager and work alongside other colleagues locally and nationally. They will have the opportunity to work flexibly and adapt regularly to changing priorities within a wide geographical area. Once your training is complete, you will benefit from the flexibility to manage your own time and workload to help you achieve a great work-life balance. The Rent Officer role provides the successful candidate with an opportunity to learn more about and start a career in the world of property and valuation. You will develop strong interpersonal and people engagement skills and build strong relationships with our external partners, contributing to our reputation with the public.

Responsibilities

• Conduct regular visits to lettings agents and landlords for the purpose of collecting lettings information, present the benefits associated with the provision of the information to maximise the success of the visit.
• Inspect properties for the purposes of Housing Benefit or Fair Rent Act determinations.
• Schedule collection activities / write up reports using market feedback gathered from data sources.
• Understand and apply relevant Data Protection guidance to day-to-day data processing and dealing with issues associated with data protection legislation, addressing any concerns agents or landlords have.
• Be involved with the production of Local Housing Allowance rates using the application of knowledge and understanding of guidelines, policy, precedent and law to ensure that results produce a representative view of the relevant lettings market. Comply with established guidelines as required.
• Carry out telephone, email and writing based activities. This can include calling landlords for the collection of data and identify and responding to housing benefit, fair rent and LHA enquiries.
• For Office of National Statistics (ONS) outputs: conduct monthly quality assurance processes to account for errors and exceptions within the established timeframes.
• Input lettings information using VOA Rent Officer applications.
• Determine valuations for Housing Benefit purposes in accordance with legislation and Housing Benefit regulations.
• Register Fair Rents under The Rent Act 1977.

Rent Officers must be able and willing to travel. Once trained, you will be expected to travel to property inspections and site visits across your area on a regular basis, alongside a blend of attendance at the office and working from home. It should be noted that for posts outside London, Rent Officers may be required to cover large geographical areas.

Disability Confident. A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to .

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) are the public sector's property valuation experts and advisers with a vision to be a world-leading provider of public sector valuations. Our work is vital to the collection of over £60 billion of revenue which goes back into communities, touching every citizen and every business across England and Wales. We champion the values of professionalism, integrity, respect and innovation. We are committed to providing a collaborative and supportive working environment that encourages every colleague to contribute, grow and excel together. With opportunities to drive your own development and growth, we empower our colleagues to succeed by ensuring support at every step of their career journey.