Careers in Housing - Caitlin Gillespie, Pineview Housing Association

I am an Assistant Housing Officer at Pineview Housing Association and have worked here for around a year and a half. My initial role was a Housing Assistant, it was my first role in housing and I loved it. I was keen to progress, so when the opportunity came up in April this year to potentially get a promotion I jumped at the chance and was lucky enough to be successful.

My main duties include Estate Inspections, Arrears Analysis/Monitoring and all aspects of tenancy management including meeting and signing up new tenants and dealing with tenant queries on the phone. A normal day in my role involves me dealing with any queries or comments that may have come in from tenants, whether that be via phone/email or visiting them at their home, running reports and gathering information regarding arrears, repairs, applications etc, and getting out onto the estate to ensure it is maintained to a high standard. I love my role because I love getting out into the estate and meeting our tenants or speaking to them over the phone/in the office. I’m a people person and I love meeting people from all walks of life.

Prior to working in housing, I worked in retail for 8 years. For the latter 4 years I was a store manager. This gained me a lot of customer service experience which has served me well in my time so far in housing. When I decided I wanted to change careers, I was discussing with my friends and said I really wanted to feel like I could make a difference to people and the community. One of my friends who works in the housing sector told me that I would love working in housing. Luckily, I took their advice and looked online for weeks and came across the vacancy at Pineview that I felt looked perfect for me.

My favourite thing about working in housing is the feeling of success when your tenants are happy. I also love the happiness on new tenant’s faces when you sign them up for their new property and see the excitement as they start to plan their future in their new home.

For anyone thinking about a career in housing, my biggest advice is to go for it! There are many different roles for all different types of experience that you may have, and I can assure you that no two days are the same and since starting my career I have learnt something new every day.