Careers in Housing

Many people who live in a house they own themselves (or their parents own) think 'housing' is only about house prices, mortgages and estate agents. But, one third of the population live in rented housing, and will be concerned about rents, how secure they are and what obligations their landlord has.

In Britain there are over five million homes owned by housing associations and local councils. They are often rented to people on low incomes, the elderly, or people with special needs. Rented housing like this needs people who will manage it and provide the services that its customers need. This is where the housing professional comes in.

What is Housing Work?

Housing work takes many forms:

• giving advice to homeless people on how they can go about getting a house
• collecting rents
• assessing repairs on a house
• allocating houses to tenants
• and even to running a multi-million pound organisation responsible for thousands of houses in one area.

The work will vary depending upon the particular functions of the housing organisation, its size and location. Housing stock and social conditions vary from one city to another and between urban and rural areas, which affects the nature of housing work.

If you choose to work in housing, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that your contribution really matters, because everyone needs somewhere decent to live. This is why many people are attracted to housing work from other fields, as well as when starting a career. The work is not easy and often challenging, but the rewards in terms of fulfilment are high.

What Sort of People Work in Housing?

All kinds! But you are more likely to be suited to the work if you have the following skills and attributes:

• An interest in people's living conditions;
• strong communication and negotiation skills;
• organisational skills;
• flexibility and adaptability to a variety of different situations;
• ability to work on your own initiative and under pressure;
• a desire to take on responsibility;
• an interest in developing new skills;
• an understanding of people from diverse cultural backgrounds and with different needs.

What Types of Housing Work are Available?

There are many opportunities in the ‘frontline' of housing; dealing directly with tenants, their needs and their options. You could be involved in managing an advice centre, helping the public with matters arising from housing legislation, landlord and tenant relationships or rents; or advising tenants on their welfare rights.

Your responsibilities could affect all sorts of initiatives from small sheltered housing schemes to large estates, from special needs housing to everyday maintenance of the housing service. Most importantly, your work could have a direct and beneficial effect on people and their standard of living.

The links on the right give you information on each of the sections within the Association and their work.

There are also many more roles you could chose to specialize in, including:

• Housing finance
• Human resources
• Information technology and communications
• Legal services
• Public relations

For details of these roles please visit:

Central Borders Housing Group (external link)