Aster colleague becomes shared owner

Holly Herlock is a ‘Right to Buy’ advisor at Aster and has worked for the organisation for six years. Here, she shares her story of her time at Aster and how it has not only opened doors within her career, but also literally, as she recently became a proud shared owner of a property in Wells.

I joined Aster as a Housing Administration apprentice in January 2012. I saw an advert about apprenticeships at Aster in the local paper and decided to apply online. I was pleased to be invited for an assessment day and was then called back for an interview. When I was offered the apprenticeship, I was really happy and looked forward to learning about the housing sector.

During the apprenticeship I spent a few months in different departments including; the Neighbourhood Team, Lettings, and Customer accounts; where I learned about the roles and responsibilities that each team have within housing.

I also completed an NVQ in Business and have since also achieved a Chartered Institute of Housing level 3 and level 4 qualification in Housing.

After completing my apprenticeship, I have had several different roles within Aster including; Lettings Assistant, Neighbourhood Assistant, and being part of the Service Charge Plus project team.

I really enjoyed each of these roles and gained lots of new knowledge and skills in different housing-related areas.

My current role is ‘Right to Buy Advisor’, which involves facilitating the sale of our properties under the Right to Buy and the Right to Acquire schemes. This involves a lot of investigation work, following legal procedures and working with solicitors to complete the sales.

I really enjoy working in the housing sector and working with customers directly.  

Working at Aster has made me more aware of my personal housing situation, and knowing a bit about shared ownership already, that seemed like the best option for me.

I applied for a shared ownership property and my application was successful.

I got the keys to my house on 20th July. I’m really pleased that I’ve managed to get my foot on the property ladder, through shared ownership with Aster.

Having my own space and being able to gradually purchase more of my property in the future, is really exciting and motivates me to work hard.

As for my future at Aster, I’m really enjoying my current role and am planning to stay with the group and continue to develop my career within housing.

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