Residential Conveyancing and Compliance officer LBS-010

Job Description

Job Category :Housing
Location : 160 Tooley Street, Southwark Council
Hours Per Week : 36.00
Start Date : Immediate Start
Start Time : 09:00
End Time :17:00
Salary: £23.67
The Residential Conveyancing & Compliance Officer will work in a team taking forward the development and delivery of homeowner policies ranging from ad hoc sales of land to permissions for alterations, as well as ensuring that homeowners are compliant with lease and freehold transfer requirements. The Residential Conveyancing & Compliance Team also provides operational support for the delivery of the Council’s policies relating to specific types of disposal and acquisition of council homes. The successful candidate will be a dynamic individual with proven knowledge and ability in providing professional residential conveyancing advice and monitoring transactions carried out by external solicitors.

Essential qualifications/ skills: Qualified as a Property Lawyer or as a Licenced Conveyancer or having proven relevant equivalent experience of residential conveyancing practice and procedures in a similar role for at least three years, particularly with respect to local authority disposals.

Contractual hours: 36 hours – Up to 6 months contract

Monday to Friday. Hybrid working (currently working at Tooley st. office on Monday and Tuesdays – Please note this could be subject to change).
JOB SUMMARY:
• Ensuring that:
• Individual residential conveyancing transactions comply with statute, case law, residential conveyancing practices and contractual requirements under Lease and Transfer agreements;
• The council is able to collect due revenue in relation to service charges and administrative fees;
• Matters are effectively and efficiently progressed and that records fully reflect their progression; and
• Service Providers receive comprehensive and accurate instructions.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES

1. Being an integral member of the Residential Conveyancing Compliance Team [“the Team”], ensuring individually and collectively that:
a. its aims and objectives are met;
b. matters are dealt with in a timely and professional manner in accordance with statute, policy or corporate guidelines;
c. all stakeholders are appropriately advised at all times;
d. risks and issues are identified and escalated to the Residential Conveyancing Compliance Manager [“the RCCM”];
e. the council’s interests are fully protected so that it continues to receive service charge payments on the sale of all Leasehold and relevant Freehold properties and service charge arrears are fully recovered on the sale of the same, and
f. the council’s other financial and fiduciary duties are protected.

2. Proactively operating with minimal supervision to carry out all necessary administration and pre-legal instruction work pertaining to types of matter falling under or in relation to (but not limited to) any of the Work Types*.

3. To act as an officer for departmental escalations and Member enquiries, giving strategic and operational advice to internal and external stakeholders.

KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION:
1 Knowledge, understanding and experience of using, interpreting and implementing the governing legislation relating to residential leasehold management, including the Leasehold Reform & Urban Development Act 1993, Landlord & Tenant Acts and Housing Acts.

2 Qualified as a Property Lawyer or as a Licenced Conveyancer or having proven relevant equivalent experience of residential conveyancing practice and procedures in a similar role for at least three years, particularly with respect to local authority disposals.
3 Knowledge and understanding of the council’s restrictions and obligations in withholding and providing information under the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts.
4 Knowledge and understanding of the processes of Her Majesty’s court services, particularly the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).
EXPERIENCE:
5 Experience of dealing with and ability to advise on leasehold and legal issues, communicating such information in person and in writing to a high standard in formal and informal settings, tailored appropriately to the audience i.e. to tenants, homeowners and their representatives (including solicitors and financial institutions), other council officers, advice agencies and other public sector or government bodies (including the land registry), such issues including those relating to service charge calculations relevant to a leasehold portfolio, general and specific consents, rectifications, lease variations, collective enfranchisement, ad hoc disposals, licences for alteration and other Work Types as specified in the Job description.
6 Experience of advising on individual leases, lease types and freehold transfers, particularly those relating to local authority and/or other social landlord owned or managed residential property.
ABILITIES:
7 Ability to successfully lead and develop internal and external relationships, deputising for the RCCM when necessary or appropriate.
8 Excellent numeracy and verbal reasoning skills with the experience of and ability to produce, research and collate information and data, to analyse it, provide meaningful statistics from it, draw conclusions from it and identify what actions may be required from it.
9 Ability to work on one’s own initiative and to operate effectively as a team member, using the most effective method to manage large and conflicting workloads, prioritise and meet deadlines, proactively and reactively identify and address issues in a timely and professional manner.
10 Ability to use a wide range of computer packages including Microsoft Word, Excel, and Access to produce reports, tables and graphical information.
11 Ability to train colleagues and write comprehensive instruction manuals/procedures on all aspects of the work.
12 Awareness of the impact of service development, quality and knowledge management in a customer service environment, evidenced by employing excellent customer service skills and promoting an environment of constant improvement.
• Right first time service delivery;
• Can do attitude and demonstrable ownership and responsibility;
• Passion, drive and commitment;
• Service delivery which is focussed on the customer and shaped by putting yourself in the customer’s shoes;
• Strong communication skills and ability to communicate in a range of formats;
• Strong commitment to corporate working, team working and joint working with internal and external stakeholders;
• Flexible attitude, always prepared to go the extra mile;
• Effective delegation;
• Ability to use own initiative to proactively and reactively identify and address complex issues ;
• Using the most effective methods to manage large and conflicting workloads in a timely and professional manner, keeping customers informed and motivating staff and colleagues to do the same; and
• Actively learning from experiences.