What's involved with this role: Interim Housing Officer – Homelessness Prevention Job Ref: E Devon 5246553 Pay Rate: £20.00 per hour PAYE Hours per week: 37 Monday to Friday, normal working hours Role Length: This opening assignment is for 6 months City: Honiton, Devon Enhanced DBS disclosure required for this role Hybrid working available for the right candidate The purpose of the role is 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. Key Responsibilities: 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. 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. 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. Proactively manage a caseload of applications. 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. Investigate applications in line with the Housing Act 1996 Part 7 and relevant case law. Write and issue statutory S184 decision letters and any other standard letter as required. Create, review and update effective Personalised Housing Plans in line with the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, to ensure successful homelessness prevention or relief. Support and empower applicants to resolve their housing need. Be flexible in your approach to meet the needs of the customer, carrying out home visits where necessary. Ensure accurate collation of HCLIC data using the Council’s system, to be forwarded to the Department for Communities and Local Government. Drive the reduction in use of emergency and temporary accommodation through effective prevention work. NB: Please feel free to apply to us direct via jobstclrec.com by quoting the job reference and job title exactly. To help speed up the process of uploading your CV to the client we would suggest that you send us your CV in Word format (or equivalent) if possible, rather than as a PDF. If you are successful in securing this role, please note that for the entire duration of this contract, regardless of extension you will be working this role at the PAYE rate that has been advertised. For absolute clarity, we only work on a PAYE basis, rather than entertaining umbrella pay terms, we do not offer Ltd/umbrella or outside IR35 rates. If you wish to understand PAYE vs Umbrella more, please let us know and we can send you some additional information for clarity. Please quote the Job Title & Vacancy Reference No. in your application, or we will be unable to match your CV to the role being applied for. Other “Essential Requirements” – Please check to ensure that your CV addresses the following items: Unless the DBS requirement stated above is for a Basic Disclosure, your DBS must be either through us or be accompanied by a subscription to the DBS updating service. Current UK driving licence and own transport. Qualifications: Good level of education with at least a GCSE (or equivalent) in Maths, English and Science. Experience Minimum of 12 months recent experience in a similar role, or context and ideally within a public sector organisation. Previous experience working for a local housing authority. Previous housing advice and homelessness experience. 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. Skills & Abilities: Accuracy and attention to detail, particularly when working to tight deadlines and managing conflicting priorities. Able to work under pressure. Have excellent organisational skills. Ability to work on own initiative and as part of a team. Ability to be innovative and creative when identifying ways to prevent homelessness. Ability to write clear and concise reports and letters etc. Excellent communication skills, including listening, oral and written. Ability to be diplomatic, tactful, friendly and empathetic to customers and colleagues. Ability to interpret information via the telephone and enter information direct into the computer. Strong IT skills including Microsoft packages or equivalent (e.g. G Suite). Please note that clients invariably ask us to strip out contact details from CVs before we submit them for consideration. This is always quicker and easier to do if you send your CV to us in Word format, rather than as a PDF please