Bolton Council is recruiting more apprentices to help keep the borough’s homes safe and secure.
The authority is expanding its Housing Standards Team, the service responsible for tackling poor property standards in the private rented sector.
New recruits will allow the team to increase the support it gives landlords to achieve decent housing standards, while also holding failing landlords to account.
In recent years, a shortage of qualified staff has left councils across the UK struggling to recruit enough housing standards officers.
To overcome this challenge, the council recruited two apprentices in 2023 and is now looking to add a further two more recruits to the team.
The new apprentices will study towards their Advanced Certification in Private Sector Housing Enforcement while working for the council, before taking on a full-time role after qualifying.
Bolton Council’s Executive Cabinet Member for Adults and Community Housing, Cllr Fielding, said:
“The proportion of households across the country who are in privately rented homes has almost doubled since 2004 and this change has been reflected in Bolton too.
“Unfortunately, there are some unscrupulous landlords out there who exploit people’s desperation, and the standard of some private rented accommodation is nowhere near good enough.
“Nobody should have to live in a home which isn’t safe, or which makes them ill, and the council is committed to upholding the highest possible housing standards.
“These new recruits will give us extra capacity to tackle more of those whose substandard properties put tenants at risk.
“By training our own enforcement officers, we are creating exciting opportunities to anyone looking for a new career where they can make a real difference too.”
Applications for the new roles are due to open in December and can be submitted online via the Greater.Jobs platform.
The apprenticeships posts will be partly funded by Greater Manchester Local Authority Enforcement Resource Programme.
The funding pot is part of Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s broader commitments through its Good Landlord Scheme.