Eleanor Snow meets Mela McGregor, a housing officer who works with vulnerable women

The job ad specifies a woman – why?

I work for a housing organisation that provides homes and services for socially excluded women, many of whom have been victims of violence or are escaping prostitution.

What do you do to help them?

I’m responsible for all the housing needs of our tenants in north London. I currently manage 17 properties, of which seven are shared and 10 are single-occupancy.

Each day is different. One day I’m dealing with a tenant dispute or ordering new furniture; the next I’ll be out of the office meeting new tenants.

I’ll also take new tenants round potential homes and arrange for contractors to carry out repair and decoration work. Often I’ll go round to the property with the contractor at the appointed time because our tenants don’t always feel comfortable being left alone with men that they don’t know.

What do you make of the job so far?

From the job description I knew the work would be varied, but I didn’t expect to have as much responsibility as I have. But I like going out on visits and inspections and meeting tenants and service users.

If one of the women needs some support, like counselling, I can get a support worker to go and see her. Just knowing that you can make a difference in a small way is a good feeling.

Do you need any particular abilities?

You need a good balance of skills in this job: you have to be organised and keep on top of admin work as well as being able to get on with the tenants.

Sometimes repair requests are not dealt with in time, so you need to be a good negotiator: I’m truthful and explain the problems as they arise.

I’ll always apologise if there’s been a delay and explain what’s gone wrong. It’s important to keep tenants informed.

Anything you still need to learn?

I’ve only been here for three months so I’m still getting to grips with all the job entails.

I haven’t yet received training on how to deal with tenants who refuse to pay rent and the legal knowledge that it requires – when I do, I’ll be able to manage evictions effectively when the situation arises.

What was your last job?

I worked as a residential social worker in a children’s home in Catford, south London.

It was a short-stay home where children were placed until permanent homes could be found for them and we worked with kids from different backgrounds, often young offenders after they were released from juvenile institutions.

Where do you want to be in five years?

Because I’m still new to the job and haven’t been fully trained I couldn’t say for sure.

This job offers me so many possible avenues that it’s hard to know which one I’ll end up following.