As a new graduate I could not decide what I wanted to do with my life. However I was forced to make a choice when my parents said get a job or get out. A the time I was working as a waitress in a ..... Cheap motel, oh how I wanted to write cocktail bar!!!! My plan had been social work but my parents were horrified at that.
So I saw a job, applied and four hours later was offered a temp contract in social housing. I started in the Right to Buy Section, and within six months was promoted to a housing officer, that is a rent collector to everyone else. I loved it. You got to meet the same people check on them every week, make sure they were ok. If they were struggling to pay then you could sit them down and discuss why. But no more. Rent collection door to door was too costly, it had to stop. After a spate of attacks on collectors this was reinforced.
It used to be a standard interview question...... If someone approaches you and asks for the rent money what would you do????
I remember collecting, cold and wet through in my wellies, being so cold I couldn't count the money, and getting sunburned. All part of the job. I met some impressive people. One collector could add 6 manual sheets by running a pen down the sheet, never more than a minute. Others who insisted on shiny coins in their float. All unique, but brilliant.
There have been suggestions that welfare reform will take me back to the good old days of rent collection. But, I am confused. When before has a family had their benefit reduced by £25 a week because they live in a house that is too big? When they asked to move they were told , sorry you will have to wait. People do not want to be in debt, but I guarantee people given the choice of paying rent or feeding the family will wait till crisis point before they pay.
The other suggestion I have had is if you can't collect, outsource. A similar response from me, if they don't have they can't give!!!
Will we see a rise in abandoned properties? A rise in domestic violence? A rise in counterfeit goods? A rise in petty crime?
Or will everything be fine...........????
Social housing is so much more than collecting rent. When will people realise??
