Leasehold Officer (L3Z1)

About the Role

We have a fantastic opportunity for a highly organised person to join our multi-disciplinary Leaseholder Services collections team. This is an exciting role within housing management, where you will be the first point of contact for complex enquiries from leaseholders. The successful candidate will investigate and respond to questions regarding annual service charges and major works. The purpose of this role is to maximise the council’s income through effective monitoring and management of approximately 1000 leasehold service charge accounts.

The successful candidate will be adept at calculating and processing service charge reductions, ensure payments for services are made and deadlines met; visit sites across the borough and occasionally represent Local Authority at tribunal and County Court. Previous leasehold management experience is not essential.

About you

To be considered for this post the successful candidate will be an excellent communicator (both written and verbal) and possess excellent customer service skills. You will be able to liaise with multiple stakeholders such as leaseholders, freeholders, Members of Parliament, Councillors, solicitors, external agencies; and across various teams and departments within Camden Council. Therefore, it is essential that you are a confident communicator in all mediums and varying levels of seniority. The ideal candidate will have the ability to understand and interpret financial data, demonstrate strong attention to detail and have a keen analytical approach to your workload. You will also be able to prioritise effectively and meet deadlines, particularly when faced with changing circumstances.

Role Purpose:

* To be the first point of contact for leaseholders and to investigate and respond to complex queries regarding annual service charges and major works

* To maximise the council’s income through effective monitoring and management of approximately 1000 leasehold service charge accounts.

Example outcomes or objectives that this role will deliver:

* To investigate and respond to leaseholders’ queries regarding service charges and their service charge accounts.

* To be a point of contact for queries and advice, externally & internally, concerning leases, leasehold management and the liability of lessees and applicants to contribute to Council expenditure.

* To perform the Council’s credit control function in respect of residential leasehold service charge debt and related amounts

* To calculate and process service charge reductions in accordance with legislation, policy and decisions of the Courts and First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).

* To effectively manage approximately 1,000 service charge accounts from the point of issue through to collection including setting up and monitoring payment arrangements; arrears escalation; dispute resolution and County Court action.

Please note the duration of this role is until the end of March 2024. The role is hybrid, it will be mostly home based but they will also be required to come into the office on occasion -twice a month at minimum. On the other hand, we do have the facility for them to work from the office most days if this is the candidates preference.