Carly’s housing officer blog: “I loved the interactions and being part of their journey.”

Starting a career in the social housing sector

“After leaving college in 2004, I signed up to a recruitment agency and my first placement was at a local housing association as a temporary admin assistant in the Leasehold Team. I did not have a career plan however I liked the work and got on well with my colleagues. A permanent role came up and I applied for this role.  I soon progressed and moved into an officer level role. In August 2024, I celebrated working in the social housing sector for 20 years.

Experience in a housing officer role

“I carried out a housing officer role for seven years. The housing officer role was never referred to as a ‘housing officer’, instead I had titles such as Customer Liaison Officer and Area Housing Manager.

My favourite part of being a housing officer was meeting people. I loved the interactions, the stories and being part of their journey. You meet with people on their best and worst days, see both their ups and downs, and the challenges that life throws at them. I also really enjoyed the variety of the role, as I could be signing up a tenant in the morning for a new property and then might be in court in the afternoon asking for an eviction warrant due to rent arrears for another. No two days were ever the same!

It is an extremely rewarding role that provides varied opportunities and experiences. I would describe the housing officer role in three words as busy, engaging, and rewarding.

Developing skills and training

“In my first housing officer role, I was lucky enough to be offered the opportunity to complete my Chartered Institute of Housing qualification (Levels 3 and 4). This qualification was paid for by my employer and I completed it as part of a distance learning programme. A lot of my skills have been developed ‘on the job’. The role helped me to become a good communicator, work well under pressure, become a good negotiator and a better manager.

I was also able to broaden my knowledge through the queries I dealt with as a housing officer and training that I attended across areas such as housing law, leasehold management, and asset management.

Future roles and career development

“For my next career move, I took a slight detour away from front-line housing into corporate governance. I applied for a secondment to cover a role as Assistant Company Secretary at the housing association I was working for whilst the postholder was on maternity leave. I didn’t have experience in this type of role before and I didn’t think I would be successful, but I did something right as I was offered the role.

I am quite a curious person and like to know the details of why I am doing something – many people who work with me will know that my favourite question is ‘why?’. This role was perfect for me to be able to understand how a housing association functioned. I learnt about many new areas, building on my housing officer knowledge, such as board and committees, regulation, finances, auditing, risk management, insurance and data protection.

After a few years in governance roles, I realised that I missed working in front line housing and was offered the chance to come back. I took on the role of Head of Tenant Support at Reside Housing Association and when we merged with Progress Housing Group in 2021, the role of Head of Housing Operations. I still use many of the skills and knowledge that I learnt during my time as a housing officer.

Further professional development

“Like many, I am waiting for the details of the social housing white paper to confirm what professional training will look like for the social housing sector. In the meantime, I am taking learning and development opportunities when they arise to keep my knowledge fresh.”