We are pleased to welcome Adam Thorpe to #TeamBedspace as our new Head of Property Maintenance. This role is an exciting next step in our journey to ensuring the growth of the provision and maintenance of our properties.

 

Following this positive next step in our Property Management, we have the pleasure of announcing the further creation of 3 exciting new roles within our Housing and Maintenance Department!

 

Today we spoke to Adam about his experience, his team and how this role alongside the expansion of the Housing and Maintenance Department at Bedspace will see a positive result in the future of our property maintenance and provision.

“Hi, my name is Adam Thorpe and I have been with Bedspace for 3 months now. I come from a leasehold and asset management background but have also worked in supported housing and young people’s housing services in my past. 

 

I am the Head of Property Maintenance at Bedspace. I manage external contractors works so we ensure we are getting best value for money and that they are also working towards our ethos & standards. This involves physically quality checking works & invoice management to ensure the organisation makes efficiency across the board.

 

My main goal in the organisation is to ensure that we collectively work together to ensure property standards are raised and that our void times are reduced to meet our service needs. 

 

With Ofsted on the horizon, we need to ensure that every property is maintained to a high standard for them to inspect. From my perspective, this involves ensuring our maintenance operatives and external contractors are all working towards the same goal. By having this standard in place, it removes the need to act reactively to requirements and instead have them already in place in each of the homes. 

 

I like to work to the ethos of “would I live here” in every job we do.

 

My role entails managing a team of 8 internal maintenance operatives, whose job it is to turn our voided properties around but also to maintain them when the Young Person is in the tenancy. They also maintain our offices across the north where I will consistently do audit checks on their work and have regular meetings to ensure standards are met.

 

We currently have around 600 properties to be maintained across the organisation with a scope to exponentially grow in the next 3 years. With this in mind, the quality, maintenance and provision of these properties is of high importance as it is the building blocks that allow our Service Delivery Team to provide the much-needed support.

The consistently high standard of the properties will allow our Young People to feel safe, secure and provide them with a sense of pride in their environment.

 

As for me, I am an avid Arsenal fan, living in West Yorkshire where I volunteer every week as a facilitator for the Mental Health Charity Andy Mans Club. I’m so happy to be a member of #TeamBedspace and to have found a company that places quality as a priority in the amazing work they do. It is so important to me to have a company that has a strong ethos and a culture of support both internally and externally.”

 

We also spoke to our Managing Director, Nick Thornhill, about how this hire will positively reflect our continued property growth and Bedspace’s relationship with current and future Landlords & Property Investors.

 

 

“It is brilliant to have somebody that is dedicated to maintenance, where not only will we have property to right standards but by maintaining them we are providing our Young People with the best properties we can afford. The result of this will see the service and support we deliver, raised considerably.

 

It is so important to have these standards in place. Not only is there a safety element for people that a property is serviced in the right way. But, if you give someone a decent standard of living through a well-maintained property, it really makes a difference on an emotional level. It helps with an individual’s mental health and self-esteem massively, allowing them to aspire to keep their environment in good condition and have a safe space to live and learn to be independent. 

 

We are hoping with this new role and the resulting maintenance and provision of properties will see our Young People give more respect to the properties, resulting in fewer cases of damage. We also believe that current and future Landlords and Property Investors will have pride and peace of mind that the property they have bought or rented to us, is in safe hands and is being well-looked after by the Bedspace Team.”

 

See below for our 3 exciting new positions within the Housing and Maintenance Department:

 

Property Acquisitions Officer (Liverpool)

  • Bedspace Resource Ltd are looking to appoint an Acquisition Officer to help grow our Liverpool and Wales property portfolio. The candidate will ideally have property knowledge/experience.
  • Experience in sales is also desired and meeting targets and guidelines. They will also be customer facing working with landlords and investors representing Bedspace. The Acquisition Officer will also have a keen eye for details as property standards are a vital part of the role.
  • They will require a driving licence and DBS is not necessary as they will have no direct contact with service users.

 

Void Inspector (Liverpool)

  • Bedspace Resource Ltd are looking to appoint an Void Inspector to inspect & report on empty properties across the portfolio to ensure voids are managed within the company’s targeted timeframe.
  • To manage furniture lockups in Liverpool and Manchester to ensure that goods are reused where possible.
  • To quality check works that both internal staff & external contractors have completed and report these to the head of service.
  • To communicate effectively between services so that expectation on a property’s readiness is advised accurately.
  • Experience of working in the property industry, specifically void properties & repairs. 
  • A keen eye for detail maintenance and a driving licence.

 

Housing Maintenance Co-Ordinator (Liverpool)

  • Bedspace Resource Ltd are looking to appoint an Housing Maintenance Co-Ordinator to undertake a range of administrative support to the Housing Team/Manager as well as the Maintenance Team/Manager.
  • They will be responsible for allocating maintenance across the Liverpool area working closely across departments as well as with maintenance operatives and external contractors
  • Complete Housing/Maintenance Audits and produce monthly/weekly reports. 
  • Be committed to working with housing/maintenance to raise the standard of our properties.
  • Updating system with compliance documents such as Gas/Elec Certs, tenancy agreements etc.
  • Updating team members with void dates, hand back and timescales across all properties.
  • Full driving licence will be required.

 

For more details on each of these roles, please see our Careers site for the full JD and ways to apply.