Job Description

I am currently working with a London Borough to recruit an interim Finance Anaylst - Rents and Charges

The Finance Analyst plays a pivotal role in financial planning and decision-making for the HRA, providing expert analysis, challenge and advice to senior managers, service leads and budget holders, particularly on rent setting, service charges and long-term HRA financial strategy. The postholder will lead the preparation of rent and service charge budgets, ensuring full cost recovery and compliance with government policies.You will also support the Housing Service in setting the annual rents and service charges across all tenures, including new lets.

This role involves supporting financial planning, monitoring, and analysis across the Housing Service, identifying financial risks and opportunities, and driving improvements in financial systems and processes.

• The Finance Analyst will proactively engage with budget holders, managers and senior leaders, providing clear, accurate financial information to enable informed decision-making. They are expected to take ownership of their work, demonstrate initiative and problem-solving skills, and champion financial governance, compliance, and value-for-money principles across the Council.

Duties

• Lead on complex reconciliations between rent control accounts and tenant/leaseholder balances, investigating discrepancies and implementing corrective actions to ensure accuracy and prevent income loss
• Clear suspense accounts in the housing management system and the general ledger related to tenant, leaseholder, and interdepartmental transactions
• Prepare and submit statutory HRA and rent related returns(e.g., LAHS, LADR), ensuring accuracy and timely submission to meet immovable deadlines and avoid financial penalties or compliance risk
• Lead on the maintenance of benchmarking collaboration with other Government bodies and Benchmarking clubs
• Support the Housing Business Analyst in maintaining accurate property data
• Prepare, analyse and present complex financial reports, forecasts and models for rental income, voids and service charges, providing insight and recommendations that influence strategic decision-making and tenant-facing policies