Leasehold Accounts Officer
| Posting date: | 13 May 2024 |
|---|---|
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 12 June 2024 |
| Location: | Portsmouth, PO1 2AL |
| Company: | Portsmouth City Council |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 3397 |
Summary
Salary: Band 8 - £33,945 - £36,647 p.a.
Hours: 37 hours per week, hybrid working
Permanent
The Service:
The council are the largest social landlord in the area, responsible for approximately 17,500 properties. These properties are a mixture of flats and houses located within both Portsmouth and Havant. Right to Buy legislation has resulted in the private leasehold sale of some 2,000 flats. Complex legislation makes leasehold management a demanding and challenging area of the business. We have also recently acquired around 800 properties of ex housing association stock which has a mixture of tenure, but new to Leasehold Services is Shared Ownership.
What is the role?
This position reports directly to the Leasehold Administration Manager within the Leasehold Services team which is part of Housing Neighbourhood & Building directorate.
Leaseholders are required to pay their share of the following services (as appropriate to their block).
- Major works.
- Day to day repairs.
- Cleaning and grounds maintenance.
- Lift maintenance, servicing, and repairs.
- Electricity.
- Heating.
- Estate Services and Out of Hours service.
- Management Fee.
- Ground Rent.
You will be supporting the Leasehold Administration Manager in meeting the legislative timetable for charging leaseholders. This has two distinct elements; the forward projection of estimated future liabilities as well as the retrospective recharging of actual costs.
Charges must be accurate, fair, and reasonable. It is vital that the process is transparent and accountable. Charges must withstand both internal and external scrutiny. Leaseholders have considerable legal rights to challenge the charges levied. We expect these processes to continuously evolve and improve over time in the light of experience and learning. The data picture will need to be tested by understanding the reality of service provision within our diverse range of properties.
You will be responsible assisting the Leasehold Administration Manager in the following:
Retrospective costs
- Assisting in the calculation of Leaseholder's actual costs
- Extracting and collating large volumes of transactional data from in-house systems/databases and external data sources.
- Checking the integrity and accuracy of the data.
- Challenging unclear/potentially excessive charges.
- Correct apportionment of charges.
Future liabilities
- Assisting in the calculation of the Leaseholder's estimated charges.
- Advance notification of the cost of specific schemes of work (section 20 consultation).
- Review of reserve fund contributions towards future major works.
You will be liaising with:
- Leasehold and Shared Ownership Officers/team.
- Stakeholders within Housing (Repairs & Maintenance, Estate Operations etc).
- Other PCC departments (Legal, Finance etc).
- External organisations (Solicitors, Contractors etc).
Who is the person?
You will need to:
- Have a knowledge of Leasehold Accounting practices is desirable, but not essential.
- Have a data rational and analytical mind set with good attention to detail.
- Have a flexible and adaptable approach to your work.
- Have a high standard of Excel skills and be proficient in the use of Word, Outlook etc
- Have a willingness to learn, develop and adapt.
- Be able to manage a diverse workload against crucial and legislative deadlines.
- Be able to withstand pressure of work at key times of the year.
- Be able to understand and interpret complex legislation.
- Be able to use initiative, to make informed and appropriate decisions.
- Be able to form good relationships and communicate effectively with staff at all levels.
- Be able to work well within a team.
- Have an accounting qualification (level 3) or be willing to work towards one.
- Be able to work flexibly from any location as business dictates.
Closing date: 27th May 2024
When completing the application form, please thoroughly tailor your application to the 'Who is the Person' points with the use of examples from your experience and attach this as a cover letter in the Supporting Documents section. This is really important or you are likely not to be shortlisted. Please click HERE for the full job profile!
We are a disability confident employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible and welcome applications from all areas of society.
We really appreciate our employees and fully realise they are essential to our success and look to offer an inclusive, supportive working environment where employees can reach their potentials with a healthy work life balance, offering the following rewards:
- A generous pension scheme
- Up to 31 days annual leave per year + bank holidays
- Flexible / hybrid working where appropriate
- A range of retail discounts via our reward portal offering discounts at retailers including IKEA, Currys, Tesco
- Free Access to Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and wellbeing support
- Access to a wide range of training and development opportunities including apprenticeships
- Potential to purchase additional annual leave
- Business travel support and initiatives, including bike loans
Please click here for all the benefits of working with us!
Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact recruit@portsmouthcc.gov.uk