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Sage Homes is an innovative Blackstone and Regis portfolio business working in partnership to solve the housing crisis in England.

Since 2017 we have delivered 5,000 new homes across affordable rent and shared ownership for families. By 2022, we have committed to deliver 30,000 homes across the country. This will make Sage the largest contributor to new affordable housing in England.

We have invested more than £3 billion into high-quality affordable housing. Our entrepreneurial spirit combined with our technical expertise has got us to where we are today and will enable future sustainable growth.

The role of Income Officer is to maximise rental income for our Sage customers, this involves: managing arrears, communicating with customers over the telephone and email, negotiating payment agreements in line with our arrears policy and procedure, and focussing on tenancy sustainment. Our goal is to prevent further accumulation of rent arrears by using prevention methods, conducting tenancy reviews, and providing continuous financial and welfare advice to customers as part of income collection.

This role will sit within our Resident Services team, reporting into our Income Manager.

Location:

Home working with travel to our Covent Garden and Northampton office.

Key duties:

• Communicate with our customers regarding their rent accounts via telephone and email.
• Respond to and manage rental account enquiries in line with our policy and procedure
• Work alongside our financial wellbeing team to ensure that customers requiring support to sustain their tenancy through income maximisation and looking at opportunities to enable them to be financially stable.
• Manage rent arrears cases and negotiate acceptable payment arrangements for our customer in arrears.
• For arrears cases that aren’t directly managed, liaise with the appropriate managing agents income team to ensure a consistency in approach and service in line with our policy and process
• Support and advice our customers regarding Welfare and Financial Inclusion, Universal Credit, Housing Benefit and CAB.
• Calculate and organise direct debit payments and chase all failed payment arrangements.
• Liaise with local Authorities and specialist money advice agencies on rent management issues.
• To be familiar with and keep up to date with legislative and regulatory requirements for rental income. Possess and maintain up to date knowledge of Welfare Reform.
• Assist the Income Manager with KPI reporting.
• Attend court on behalf of Sage homes for any cases –on a nationwide scale as and when required

• Experience working as an Income Officer/Debt Recovery and have up to date knowledge and understanding of arrears recovery, welfare benefits and court procedures.
• Knowledge of tenancy issues and Housing Law.
• Excellent communication skills and have a positive ‘can do’ attitude.
• IT literacy including Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook.
• Experience in presenting and representing arrears possession cases in court.