Housing policy officer Job Information | National Careers Service

Job profiles

Housing policy officer

Hours

37 per week
Starting salary

£21,000 + per year

The work

Housing policy officers work for organisations such as local authorities and housing associations. They develop policies to make sure that their organisation responds to local housing needs and government housing policy.

As a housing policy officer, you would:

research housing issues, identify good practice and recommend action
collect statistics that are relevant to housing, such as health, employment and demographics
represent housing services on corporate working groups
gather and present data and information
produce publications such as research reports, policy briefings and information factsheets
suggest changes that need to be made as a result of government initiatives and new legislation
give presentations to groups, both inside your organisation and externally.

You would work closely with other departments and external agencies like private landlords and community groups. You could specialise in a particular area such as equalities issues, research or data collection.

Hours

You would work around 37 hours a week, Monday to Friday. You would be based in an office, but might need to travel to attend meetings.

Income

Housing policy officers can earn from £21,000 to around £35,000 a year.

Figures are intended as a guideline only.

Entry requirements

You would usually need either a relevant degree, such as housing studies, social policy or town planning, or a relevant professional qualification, such as those offered by:

Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH)
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
Royal Town Planning Institute.

Employers would expect you to have detailed knowledge of housing and related government legislation. Experience of policy-related work, ideally in housing or social policy, and of project management would also give you an advantage. Experience in housing management is useful, although not essential – see the Housing Officer profile for information.

Training and development

Once you are employed as a housing policy officer, you will need to keep up to date with issues such as changes in national and European Union housing policy. You can do this by attending courses, seminars and workshops, such as those run by the CIH.

You may be able to study part-time for qualifications like an MA or Postgraduate Diploma in housing policy and management.

Skills and knowledge

analytical skills for working with complex statistical data
knowledge of housing legislation and policy
effective communication skills
customer focus
the ability to prepare complex reports and make clear presentations
IT skills
the ability to coordinate and manage a varied workload and meet tight deadlines
diplomacy
networking and negotiating skills

More information

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) (Opens new window)
Parliament Square
London
SW1P 3AD
Tel: 0207 334 3875
www.rics.org

Royal Town Planning Institute (Opens new window)
41 Botolph Lane
London
EC3R 8DL
Tel: 020 7929 9494
www.rtpi.org.uk

Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) (Opens new window)
66 Portland Place
London
W1B 1AD
Tel: 020 7580 5533
www.architecture.com

Asset Skills (Opens new window)
2 The Courtyard
48 New North Road
Exeter
Devon
EX4 4EP
Tel: 01392 423399
Careers Advice: careers@assetskills.org
www.assetskills.org

Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) (Opens new window)
Octavia House
Westwood Business Park
Westwood Way
Coventry
CV4 8JP
Tel: 024 7685 1700
www.cih.org

Opportunities

You would be employed by local authorities or housing associations.

With experience you could take on more complex work, and may be able to develop a specialism, such as equality issues.

You may find the following links useful for job vacancies and further reading (links open in new window):

Inside Housing
LG Jobs
List of specialist recruitment agencies – Chartered Institute of Housing

Job profiles are based on the latest information supplied to us by industry bodies, such as Sector Skills Councils. Please be aware that with the introduction of the Qualifications and Credit Framework there has been, and will continue to be, changes to vocational qualifications. For more information, please check with industry bodies directly.

We do not accept responsibility for the content of external sites.

Related industry information

Industry summary

The housing industry is part of the facilities management, property and planning, cleaning and support services, and parking sector, represented by Asset Skills Sector Skills Council. The sector workforce, which has continued to grow since 1998, represents 3% of the total UK workforce.

The housing industry covers all forms of social housing including: housing associations; private landlords; the sustainable communities' agenda; and local authorities.

Key facts:

The housing industry plays an instrumental role in meeting key government targets in relation to communities and social inclusion.
Almost 9 out of 10 councils are experiencing or anticipate an increase in demand for social housing as a direct result of the recession.
There are 242,800 people working in the housing industry in 73,300 companies.
96% of all housing and property organisations have 10 or less employees.

Jobs in the industry include: housing officer; housing manager; neighbourhood manager; and emerging jobs, such as regeneration officer and community engagement officer.

National and regional data

The following provides a breakdown of the number of housing sector employees in each of the Nations and English regions.

Region	Number of employees	Regional key characteristics
East Midlands	14,100	Nearly half (44%) of the housing workforce in the East Midlands is aged 50 and over. A higher than average proportion is employed part‐time (37%)
East Of England	18,500	A significant proportion of the housing sector workforce in the East of England is female (63%)
London	40,700	London is the largest employer of the housing sector workforce in England (17%). A significantly high proportion is employed full‐time (86%) and 32% of employees are black and ethnic minorities
North East	11,800	The North East employs 5% of the total housing sector workforce in England
North West	31,000	The North West employs 12% of the total housing sector workforce in England
South East	36,300	After London, the South East is the second highest employer of the housing sector workforce in England (15%)
South West	17,400	In comparison to a number of English regions, the South East employs less people on a full‐time basis (65%). A significantly high proportion of the housing sector workforce is white (98%)
West Midlands	19,600	In comparison to other English regions, the West Midlands employs less people (8%) aged between 20 to 29
Yorkshire & the Humber	19,700	The housing sector in Yorkshire and the Humber region is very similar to England. Characterised by a higher proportion of female employment, 68% are aged 40 and over, the majority of the workforce is white (92%) and employed on a full‐time basis (72%)
Northern Ireland	2,900	Northern Ireland employs 1% of the total housing sector workforce across the UK. In comparison to the UK, the profile differs in a number of ways: a higher proportion of female employment (69%); an even age distribution; and a higher proportion of the workforce is employed on a full‐time basis (84%)
Scotland	20,500	Scotland employs 9% of the total UK housing sector workforce. Over half of the workforce is male (51%) and the majority of the workforce is white (94%)
Wales	10,400	Wales employs 4% of the total UK housing sector workforce. In comparison to the UK, a higher proportion of the workforce is female (58%), 98% of the workforce is white and a slightly higher proportion is employed on a part‐time basis (26%)