Housing and property teams don’t get quiet weeks. Repairs need doing, voids need turning round, compliance deadlines keep coming, and tenants need a named officer, not an empty desk. When a key role sits vacant, residents are the first to feel it.
That’s why we’ve launched Housing & Property at Dovetail & Slate. We recruit the people who manage, maintain and safeguard housing and the wider built environment. Beyond the bricks and mortar, we provide the staff who make a house a home and who directly support the people living in it.
Why the right people matter
Housing is a people business. Behind every safe, well-run home is a team. There’s the officer who knows the tenant by name, and the support worker who helps someone settle into a new tenancy. There’s the surveyor who spots a problem early and the trades who fix it first time. And there are the finance, IT and customer service colleagues who keep it all moving.
When those roles sit empty, residents feel it first. Repairs wait, complaints build, and everyone else stretches to cover.
And good people are hard to find. Experienced housing and property professionals are in demand across the public and private sectors. At the same time, expectations on landlords keep rising, from building safety and consumer standards to new legal duties like Awaab’s Law. Getting the right person in post has never mattered more.
Where we fit in
Every conversation with a housing team starts somewhere different. Sometimes it’s a gap that needs covering by Monday so a service keeps running. Sometimes it’s a restructure, or a senior hire that needs a quieter, more careful search. Most of the time it’s somewhere in between.
So we work on both temporary and permanent roles, with housing associations, local authorities and charities across the UK, from our offices in Manchester, Leeds, Bristol and London. The roles are just as varied: housing management, supported housing and tenancy support, compliance, property services and development, and the corporate teams behind them.
What good recruitment looks like to us
It starts with a conversation, not a job description. Who’s in the team? Who are the residents? What’s actually missing? The answers usually tell you more than the spec ever will.
Then it’s about looking past the CV. Skills matter, but so does whether someone shares the values of the organisation they’re joining. Get that right and people stay.
Some of the most rewarding work is on the roles that have been advertised twice, or covered on goodwill for too long. And it doesn’t stop at a start date. Staying in touch through onboarding and beyond is how a placement becomes a long-term hire.
Meet the people leading the team
Our Housing & Property team is led by three people with very different routes into recruitment: a rugby coach, a chemical engineer turned property renovator, and a former Head Chef.
Sam Studley
Divisional Director
Sam has spent nearly 14 years in recruitment and sales, more than ten of them in the public sector, mostly in social housing, facilities management and construction. He’s built and led award-winning recruitment teams across the UK, and now leads Housing & Property.
The work he’s proudest of is leading a team that placed more than 1,500 workers on Covid-19 test sites, a chance to make a real contribution at an uncertain time. He’s just as proud of the people he’s developed along the way, many of whom have gone on to build very successful careers.
Ask clients and candidates about Sam and you’ll hear knowledgeable, trustworthy and compassionate. He does what he says he’ll do.
Off the clock, Sam plays and coaches at Treorchy RFC in the Welsh Championship, and represented Wales and Great Britain at age-grade level. He’s also taking up padel, partly because he needs a sport for after rugby and partly because he admits he’s terrible at golf.
Paul-James (PJ) Cummings
Senior Sector Lead (South)
PJ worked his way up through Michelin-star kitchens to Head Chef before moving into recruitment during the pandemic. He found that building relationships and helping people succeed was the right recipe for him, and he now has more than six years in recruitment.
He places housing professionals with local authorities, housing associations and not-for-profit providers, from Housing Officers and Tenancy Management specialists to Supported Housing staff, Compliance Officers and Housing Managers.
PJ is at his best on the vacancy that hasn’t filled the first time round. One housing provider had been struggling with a role for a while:
“PJ took the time to really understand our requirements so was able to put forward several candidates who would each have brought something positive for the role. Our selected candidate has been exactly what we needed, and will soon be moving to permanent staff.” — Housing provider client
Off the clock, PJ once ranked 8th in Britain for the 1500m. He’s a former musician and competitive boxer, and at 15 he appeared on the TV show Holiday Showdown.
Rafee Shahabi
Senior Sector Lead (North)
Raf studied Chemical Engineering at the University of Leeds, then spent almost three years in agency recruitment in the North West before joining us to lead our work across the North of England. Alongside recruitment, he runs his own property development and interior renovation business, so moving into housing recruitment brought together two things he cares about.
He’s known for his attention to detail, and for going deeper than the CV to understand the person behind it.
The placement that’s stayed with him most involved a candidate who was struggling financially and at risk of homelessness because they couldn’t find work. Helping them into a job gave them stability and a fresh start. For Raf, that’s what recruitment is really about.
Off the clock, Raf boxed for over six years and became South East champion before moving to the North West. He moved to the UK aged six, and he’s also the team’s go-to handyperson.
Say hello
If you work in housing and want to talk through a role, a team, or just what you’re seeing in the sector, we’d love to hear from you.
- Sam: 07915 341892, sam.studley@dovetailslate.co.uk
- Raf: 07488 896483, rafee.shahabi@dovetailslate.co.uk
- PJ: 07513 131955, pj.cummings@dovetailslate.co.uk
We’re also starting a monthly housing newsletter with sector news, team updates and the odd giveaway. Sign up here.