Accountancy and finance jobs in housing
The housing sector provides a variety of roles and scope for genuine career opportunity and is a sector which readily employs individuals from the private sector.
There are over 2000 housing associations in the UK, ranging from small specialised RSLs to the larger multi-organisational players. They do not make a profit but require individuals with commercial expertise as they are effectively run as businesses; any surplus is ploughed back into the organisation to maintain existing homes and help finance new ones.
The Housing Corporation
All RSLs/housing associations in England are regulated by the Housing Corporation, a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) whose Chief Executive is responsible to Parliament for ensuring public funds are properly used and achieve value for money.
It reports annually to Parliament through the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). All Housing Associations in England have to submit a regulatory financial return on their yearly performance at their year end (31 March).
By collecting and analysing financial and managerial information on all housing associations, in particular those with the greatest amount of risk, the Corporation ensures that taxpayers’ money (£25bn invested since 1964) is safeguarded.
Finance and accounting roles within the housing sector
In the housing sector, finance functions tend to be structured along similar lines to commercial organisations: a director of finance heads the team followed by a deputy director, a financial accounting manager, a management accounting manager and financial support staff at various levels. Working as an accountant within the housing sector, you will be supporting the operational business managers on their budgets, forecasting, business planning, systems development and ‘ad hoc’ project work.
The opportunities are excellent for financial accountants within the housing sector. Complex group structures, treasury arrangements and tax positions (VAT and corporation tax) mean that training in a good firm will hold you in good stead.
For more junior positions, a basic degree of accounting literacy is a must combined with good IT skills (Excel in particular). Interest in further study (AAT, ACCA, CIMA) is beneficial as these organisations desire to provide a highly professional finance service.
There is considerable focus on the housing sector and the consensus among politicians, housing specialists and economists, is that there simply aren’t enough affordable homes in the UK - so career options will most certainly grow within this sector.
At Capita Resourcing we have a wide range of accountancy and finance jobs for both qualified and part-qualified accountants in the housing sector. Register with us or contact our one of our offices to talk to a specialist financial recruitment consultant who will be able to help you find your ideal job. Sign up for our job alerts so that you are the first to know when new housing sector jobs are on the market.
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