Our client in South West England is recruiting for a Housing Officer to provide a customer focused housing options and advice service, preventing and relieving homelessness wherever possible as a priority in line with Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 legislation.

Duties

1. To participate in providing a comprehensive and innovative housing options and advice service split over two locations, with an emphasis on early intervention and the prevention of homelessness, promoting and pursuing a range of housing options to meet the needs of our customers.

2. To participate in the housing options duty service cover from 8:30 – 5pm, giving initial advice face to face or over the telephone to customers. Dealing with incoming telephone calls, e-mails and letters.

3. To carry out housing needs assessments for applicants who we are satisfied are homeless or threatened with homelessness, in accordance with the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.

4. To proactively manage a caseload of applications.

5. To effectively negotiate and mediate with landlords and any other relevant parties with a view to preventing homelessness by keeping customers in their properties, wherever possible, or by helping applicants to secure suitable alternative accommodation.

6. Investigate appliations in line with the the Housing Act 1996 Part 7 and relevant case law.

7. To write and issue statutory S184 decision letters and any other standard letter as required.

8. To create, review and update effective Personalised Housing Plans in line with the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, to ensure successful homelessness prevention or relief.

9. To support and empower applicants to resolve their housing need.

10. Be flexible in your approach to meet the needs of the customer, carrying out home visits where necessary.

11. To ensure accurate collation of HCLIC data using the Council’s system, to be forwarded to the Department for Communities and Local Government.

12. To drive the reduction in use of emergency and temporary accommodation through effective prevention work.

13. Identifying suitable emergency and temporary accommodation for homeless priority need households with a view to effectively relieving homelessness when necessary.

14. Promote and utilise the Council’s Rent Deposit Scheme to secure private rented accommodation to prevent or relieve homelessness wherever possible.

15. Maintain accurate records of approaches and keep case files up to date with detailed notes and enquiries in case of review.

16. Participate in a reactive ‘out of hours’ service to deal with urgent homeless cases, including evenings, weekends, and the Christmas and New Year break. Must be prepared to attend site if necessary.

17. Work closely with and promote positive partnership working with partner agencies to prevent homelessness.

18. Lead on and/or attend multi-agency meetings where appropriate in order to co-ordinate professionals and work together to prevent or relieve homelessness.

19. Make sure that the housing options team offers a customer focused service using systems thinking principles.

20. Support the Council’s approach to equalities and diversity ensuring that our services and policies identify, address and promote the needs of our diverse community. This includes the need for safety of children and other vulnerable people.

21. Take personal responsibility for the relevant aspects of the Council’s Health and Safety Policy.

22. Ensure awareness and compliance with the Council’s policies, Code of Conduct and Constitution.

23. Evaluate and assist in managing risk within the service.

Essential

§ Good level of education with at least a GCSE (or equivalent) in Maths, English and Science.

§ Previous expereience in the role.

§ The candidate will need their own transport as they will be required to travel around the district

Desirable

§ Relevant housing qualification. (desirable)

§ An understanding of current issues in local government.

§ Knowledge of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017

§ An understanding of the Devon Home Choice system.

§ Awareness of the local housing market and housing providers.

§ Knowledge of local statutory and voluntary agencies.

Hours: 37 hours per week

Rate: Competitive

Contract length: 6 months

If interested, please submit your updated CV or if you need more information feel free to contact Vanessa at Buckingham Futures on 0208 125 4321 or email at vanessa@buckinghamfutures.com