A NORTH East social housing provider has extended the team responsible for the upkeep of 2,500 properties throughout Northumberland with the appointment of a Trainee Maintenance Surveyor.
Alice Kennedy, 23, from Berwick has joined Four Housing’s nine-strong asset management team in the newly created role where she will have a responsibility for inspecting properties in the Berwick area, as well as overseeing planned maintenance works and responding to tenant requests.
Alice first developed an interest in the housing sector while studying geography at Northumbria University course where she undertook a placement, leading to a full time role, with Gateshead Housing Company with a responsibility for the administration of repairs and maintenance, including logging tenant queries.
Based out of Four Housing’s Berwick office in a role that is largely site based, Alice is responsible for appointing contractors and ongoing liaison with contracting teams to ensure the timely delivery of maintenance works to ensure that properties remain in prime condition. The role also involves ongoing liaison with tenants to update on planned works and to ensure any logged requests are prioritised and dealt with. She is currently overseeing the delivery of a programme to fit new windows and roofs in over 180 properties throughout the Berwick area.
Alice, who has lived in Tweedmouth in Berwick for the majority of her life, is enjoying the challenges the role of Trainee Maintenance Surveyor entails. She said: “I’m really enjoying all aspects of the job so far. I love working as part of the wider asset management team and getting to liaise with tenants and contractors face to face. Each tenant has different needs and circumstances, so you have to be able to adapt and think on your feet and I’m really relishing that responsibility. I know the Berwick area really well having grown up here and I like the fact that I’m making a difference to my own community.”
Alice is currently working towards a HNC in Construction and the Built Environment at Newcastle College where she studies one day a week and will then progress to a HND course.
Alice added: “College is providing me with the theory to back up everything I’m learning on the job day to day. I certainly see my long-term future in the social housing sector and hope to work my way up to a managerial position when the time is right.”
David Brown, head of asset management at Four Housing, said: “We are delighted to welcome Alice to the team. We first met when she was working with Gateshead Housing Company and were so impressed with her knowledge and enthusiasm that the Trainee role was created specifically with her in mind and she is already rising to the challenge.”
For more information about Four Housing, visit: www.fourhousing.co.uk.