From the frontline: Charmaine Francis

What does your job involve?

I help residents move and settle in to our new schemes smoothly. I show residents how to use and work their heating, ventilation system and any other mechanical items they may have in their property.

I check if they are sleeping on the floor, are without basic items such as cookers or fridges, if they have any medical problems that may have an impact on the family, and sign-post residents to outside agencies who may be able to help.

What does a good day look like for you?

A good day is when a resident pops in and feels at ease and comfortable with me to ask questions, and I am able to help or give advice on where to get the answer. 

This could even be something simple, like if a resident has run out of credit on their phone or they don’t have a landline connected yet.

It’s good when residents say that they can now have dinner together as a family, or their kids can now study in their own room or have friends round because they now have space.

What are the worst aspects of your job?

When things go wrong with home defects which, with hindsight, could have been avoided - or developers refusing to go back to do a repair that is really their responsibility.

Or when single parents view a flat and refuse it, because they are on the minimum wage and they cannot afford the rent and bring up kids on their own. They don’t want to get into rent arrears so they have no choice but to refuse the flat (sadly sometimes this happens, which does affect me).

What are the oddest things that have happened to you on the job - have you had any strange requests or questions from new tenants?

A resident called to see if I could get rid of the dead pigeon in their garden straight away. Others have asked if I could be their friend outside of work and go out for cups of tea. One resident asked if I was personally available 24 hours if ever they had a problem.

How did you get into housing?

I worked for a research company for over five years and we used to deal with stock condition surveys for the council and covered questions on housing, overcrowding, etc.

This got me interested in the subject and I came to work at Octavia.

If you could pass one piece of advice onto someone starting in your role, what would it be?

You have to be able to listen. Be patient, be approachable. Be a problem solver.