Housing Options Caseworker needed!!
* Salary: Between £17.29 per hour
* Location: Exeter, EX1
* Hours: Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm
* Till October 2025 with the possibility of extension
Remote working
Ideally we want a candidate who is prepared to spend some time at the office at the start of the placement to familiarize themselves with the team and processes.
PURPOSE OF JOB
To specifically focus on assisting people (customers) threatened with homelessness to resolve their housing difficulties and retain their existing homes (where safe to do so) through the provision of high quality advocacy, advice and activities in order to prevent and relieve homelessness wherever possible.
To accurately assess and discharge the council's duty to homeless customers.
MAIN ACTIVITIES
1. To make pro-active interventions with both presenting and prospective customers in order to provide comprehensive person-centred advice and advocacy on housing rights, income maximisation, financial management, relevant support services and to inform, support and signpost customers to specialist advice agencies where applicable and to follow up on referrals and outcomes accordingly.
2. Ensure that good quality housing advice is given to customers to prevent homelessness and to both encourage and enable applicants to sustainably resolve their own housing difficulties through a jointly agreed regularly reviewed housing action plan.
3. To pro-actively take actions to prevent the loss of accommodation either as a short or long term solution using all means available. This also includes immediate interventions to prevent crisis homelessness including where possible and reasonable to help customers retain or re-access their current accommodation (without the need to refer under a statutory homelessness duty).
4. To regularly liaise with the customer and other agencies in order to prevent homelessness e.g. families and friends, landlords, supported housing, solicitors, courts, social services and other agencies.
5. To liaise with private and social landlords in order to maximise homelessness preventions by both mediating and negotiating on behalf of customers in receipt of a notice to quit.
6. To take pro-active interventions with customers wherever necessary (e.g. in their own home, hospital, prison) in order to confirm the details of their situation and to prevent the loss of their accommodation wherever possible and to determine the level of intervention required and recommend appropriate courses of action.
7. To provide comprehensive advice about housing options within the private rented and social housing sectors including affordability testing, housing-related support opportunities, and tenant and landlord rights and responsibilities including (not exclusively) landlord and tenant law, harassment, eviction proceedings, rights to repairs, additional security measures and discretionary finance options etc.
Apply today!
Blue Arrow is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer and is committed to helping find great work opportunities for great people