Rehousing & Decants Officer

About the role

Role Summary

Deliver an effective and efficient customer-focused decant and rehousing service to TCH residents. To minimise void loss and ensure that TCH complies with all relevant legislation and guidance.

Salary:

£18,201 (part-time role 21 hours per week)

Hours of Work:

21

Contract:

Permanent

Probation Period:

6 months

Notice Period:

1 month

Who are we?

We provide more than 13,000 homes across Kent, Sussex and Surrey. Over the years we have invested heavily in our homes and continue to do so as part of the Peabody Group. We promote hybrid working and have more than 300 employees based in various locations across our operating area.

Meet your Manager

"I joined TCH in 1998 and have worked in various roles within the Housing Options team before becoming Housing Options Manager.

Working in conjunction with so many teams and fantastic people across the business makes TCH a great place to work. Which must be why I stayed so long!

Outside of work I enjoy yoga, music, TV, and a good book (but not all at the same time!)"

Debbie Green- Housing Options Manager

What will you be doing?

Role Specific Responsibilities

• Managing requests for urgent moves, for example where properties become uninhabitable due to fire or flood, where properties are in disrepair or where agreed by Contracts & Compliance or Asset Investment.
• Manage referrals to hotels for temporary decants and monitor the timescales for works to be completed to ensure that TCH is being as cost effective as possible. Attend regular weekly meetings with Contracts & Compliance and receive updates from Asset Investment to monitor.
• Monitor and manage decant cases to avoid undue delay where properties are to be redeveloped or sold.
• Work in close collaboration with other departments regarding requests for temporary or permanent decants.
• Review and monitor waiting list for decants, urgent and preplanned, including rolling decants where advised by Asset Investment.
• Work in close collaboration with local authorities and other registered providers keeping up to date with the widest range of moving options for residents requiring a decant, urgent or management move.
• Provide a responsive service to customer enquiries; maintain regular contact and provide progress updates to ensure a seamless service is provided.
• Work together with the Housing Options Manager and Housing Options Administrator to review empty homes that could be considered for urgent moves or decants.
• Regularly review the decant budget in conjunction with the Housing Options Manager to ensure that it remains within budget requirements.
• Manage the raising and authorisation of payments to residents for Disturbance or Home loss ensuring that payments are made in line with TCH Policy and Procedure and liaise with residents regarding the options available to them.
• Manage subsistence payments for those tenants displaced from their home.
• Liaise with and develop working relationships with external agencies and internally to enable the provision of appropriate support services for customers.
• Review and monitor internal waiting lists for Exceptional Social Needs and Management Moves to establish chain lettings to address multiple tenants housing needs.
• Work with and organise contractors on availability and costings from each service provider.
• Organise and log all payments. Accounting all costs for budget purposes. Payment of invoices and reimbursement to external service providers.
• Prepare tenancy documentation and licence agreements for all decanted tenants including disclaimers before works can commence.
• Update and log all CORE entries.

General

• To adhere to the equal opportunities policy and to actively promote equality of opportunity wherever possible.
• Recognise, respect and promote the different roles and diversity of the individuals within the business.
• To actively contribute towards key performance indicators and professional standards.
• Work in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and Data Protection Law and be responsible for the integrity of personal information you process. This may include identifying anomalies in data and investigating and correcting them where appropriate. Ensure you attend training on data protection regularly.
• To be responsible for your own health and safety and that of your colleagues, in accordance with the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) and relevant EC directives.
• To take responsibility for your own development and professionalism, ensuring that you keep up to date with new developments and continuously expand and build on your knowledge.
• Attend and participate in training and other meetings and staff events as required.
• Be an effective member of your team, presenting a positive impression of your section and the business.
• This job description is a guide to the nature of the work required. It is not comprehensive, and it is expected that other duties will be undertaken as this role develops and as may be reasonably expected.
• Full driving licence and access to a car with relevant insurance for occasional travel to various sites across our area of operation.

About You

Education & Qualifications

• Educated to GCSE level (or equivalent) including Maths and English - Essential

Key Skills & Competencies

• Ability to identify residents’ re-housing needs and support requirements and work to ensure that these are in place. - Desirable
• Experience of dealing with residents’ difficult and complex personal issues and supporting them through the re-housing process. - Desirable
• Ability to build long lasting working relationships with residents and key stakeholders including hard to reach groups and work with them throughout the move process. - Essential
• Ability to work with people in stressful situations who may be upset or aggressive and the ability to persuade and negotiate with both colleagues and members of the public to achieve a mutually agreed solution. - Essential
• Ability to work across departments and services to deliver a coordinated customer focussed service and support throughout the re-housing process. - Essential
• Experience of working in partnership, building effective relationships that generate positive outcomes for our customers and the organisation. - Desirable
• Letting and allocations or tenancy management experience in a social housing environment - Desirable
• Demonstrable experience of using Microsoft Office - Desirable

Behaviours

• Excellent interpersonal skills and commitment to excellent customer service - Essential
• Ability to work unsupervised, plan and prioritise workload to meet deadlines and agreed targets - Essential
• Ability to deal with all customers in an empathetic and supportive manner - Essential
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team - Essential
• Problem solving skills with the ability to identify improvement opportunities - Desirable
• Good verbal and written communication skills - Essential
• Ability to deal with sensitive information maintaining discretion and confidentiality - Essential
• The flexibility to adapt to changing workload demands and new organisational challenges - Essential
• Negotiation and influencing skills - Desirable

Why Choose Us

• Contributory pension scheme 4% to 10% matched contributions
• Hybrid working
• Free onsite car parking
• Life assurance of 4x annual salary (Terms and Conditions apply)
• 30 days annual leave in addition to bank holidays
• Two volunteer days per year
• Employee assistance programme (24/7 telephone advice, information portal & face to face counselling sessions)
• Corporate eye care scheme providing free eye tests and free VDU glasses or contribution towards VDU glasses
• Extensive annual Staff Wellbeing programme
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, and shared parental leave provision
• Flexible annual benefits (for dental, healthcare, shopping vouchers, technology etc.)
• Annual flu vaccinations
• Access to an extensive range of corporate discounts on shopping, travel & days out
• Social events, including lunchtime walking, rounders, festive Fridays
• Travel loan

Our Values

Our culture is about the shared values, beliefs and behaviours that determine how we do things, then the ways and systems of working that help to get those things done.

Our new values, principles and behaviours will put customers at the heart and provide the foundation for the culture of the new organisation. Only by delivering a cohesive and customer-focused culture will we be able to achieve our purpose and priorites.

We have taken an inclusive and collaborative approach to developing the following values, working together with colleagues, customers and the Board:

Equal Opportunities Statement

TCH is an equal opportunities employer committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and does not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity or paternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership, or caring responsibilities.

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 TCH.

We are recognised as a ‘Disability Confident Committed Employer’. As part of this commitment, individuals who disclose at application stage that they have a disability, will be invited to interview provided they demonstrate that they meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy. Candidates will be asked if they require any support or reasonable adjustments to enable them to fully participate in the recruitment process.

Apply

Internal Applications

Please send a letter clearly demonstrating how your skills and experience meet the criteria contained on the job description and person specification to the HR inbox.

For internal staff only: Please note, if you're currently on legacy TCH, Rosebery, InTouch, Family Mosaic etc Terms and Conditions and are successful in your application, you will automatically be transferred to the new Peabody Terms and Conditions.

Additionally, if you move to a TCH role on a secondment basis, your Terms and Conditions will not change.

If you have any questions, or require further clarification, please speak to HR.

External Applications

Please complete our online application form by clicking the Apply button below. We reserve the right to bring the closing date forward, so we strongly encourage early applications.

Please note: As an employer, Town & Country Housing does not provide sponsorship as a licensed UK employer.

Key dates

Applications Close:

Monday, 20 October 2025

Interview Date:

Wednesday, 29 October 2025