Private Rent Officer

Overview

Are you passionate about making a real difference to people’s lives? Do you thrive in a role where every day brings new challenges and opportunities to help individuals and families find safe, suitable, and affordable homes?

We’re looking for a motivated and people‑focused full time Private Rental Officer to join our Planning, Growth & Sustainability directorate within the Housing & Strategy team. This is an exciting, hands‑on role at the heart of supporting residents, working with landlords, and shaping high‑quality private rented accommodation across the county.

If you’re commercially minded, great with people, and driven to support positive housing outcomes, we’d love to hear from you.

This is a fixed term/secondment role until March 2027.

About us

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally.  

About the role

As a Private Rental Officer, you’ll play a key role in acquiring quality private rented homes through our Bucks Let scheme and ensuring residents have the guidance and support they need to successfully access and sustain tenancies.

Your work will directly support vulnerable households, prevent homelessness, and build strong partnerships with landlords and internal teams. You’ll negotiate rental agreements, assess affordability, ensure property compliance, complete visits and inventories, and provide authoritative housing advice.

No two days are the same—you might negotiate with a landlord in the morning, support a resident at a property viewing in the afternoon, and collaborate with Environmental Health or Homelessness teams to ensure safe, sustainable housing by the end of the day.

Key parts of the role include:

• Negotiating with landlords to secure high‑quality, affordable private rented homes.
• Advising residents on housing options, tenancy responsibilities, and pathways into accommodation.
• Preventing evictions and supporting sustainable tenancies through early intervention.
• Carrying out property visits, inventories, safety checks and recording compliance information.
• Managing a varied caseload, maintaining accurate records, and ensuring decisions reflect legislation and best practice.
• Working closely with a wide range of partners, from internal council teams to external welfare agencies.

Any-Desk:

As an ‘any-desk’ worker, you’ll need to be connected to our network to access digital folders and resources, but this can either be from home or an office location when required. You will be required to work from The Walton Street Office a couple of times a week, depending on your role and team requirements.

About you

You’ll be someone who genuinely enjoys working with people and building trust—whether with residents facing challenging circumstances or landlords exploring partnership opportunities. You’ll bring a balance of empathy, resilience, professionalism, and commercial awareness.

What you’ll bring:

• Experience or strong understanding of the private rented sector and landlord/tenant responsibilities.
• Excellent communication skills—you can explain complex information clearly and calmly.
• Confidence in negotiating, problem‑solving, and influencing positive outcomes.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage a busy caseload effectively.
• Sound judgement when assessing risk, interpreting information, and making decisions.
• A collaborative approach—you’re someone who works well with others to achieve the best outcomes.
• A full driving licence and the willingness to travel to properties and partner locations.

This is a dynamic, rewarding role where you’ll have a real impact on residents’ wellbeing and the council’s housing objectives.

Other information

If you would like to know more about this role, please contact Samantha Llewellyn at [email protected] for an informal discussion.

Closing date: 8th February 2026

Interview date: To be Confirmed

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance published by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

We understand that candidates may use AI tools to assist with their applications. While we welcome innovation, we expect all submissions to reflect your own experience, skills, and achievements accurately. Please ensure your application is truthful and demonstrates your personal capabilities, as this will be assessed during the selection process.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

About the Business Unit

Our Planning, Growth and Sustainability directorate works with partners to help shape the future of Buckinghamshire.  We deliver services on planning, economic growth, regeneration, strategic infrastructure, transport and property.

 Our key priorities include developing the economic narrative for Bucks, creating more jobs and delivering the right infrastructure to help businesses and residents thrive. We also aim to provide a proactive planning service that is responsive, whilst making the best use of the Council’s land and property portfolio. This will in turn support community services and create housing, jobs, regeneration and income to support public services.

 It’s a great time to join one of our teams. As part of the Planning, Growth and Sustainability function you will not only get to help shape the economic future of Buckinghamshire; you’ll also be involved in delivering high-profile development projects and work on some of the biggest infrastructure projects in the UK. You will support us to deliver the results that our local residents and businesses deserve.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/