Wyre Forest District Council are seeking an experienced housing professional to join it’s Housing Advice Team to provide advice and assistance to households at risk of losing their private sector homes. The Renter's Rights Act is one of the largest changes to security of tenure in recent history and fundamentally changes how local authorities will respond to households approaching homeless due to private sector evictions. This will include supporting tenants to be court ready, if there is a reasonable prospect of defending against possession proceedings, supporting tenants to apply for rent repayment orders if there has been a breach and jointly working with the private sector housing team and Tenancy Relations Officer, to identify and gather evidence for potential breaches of the renters rights act. The ideal candidate should have a sound knowledge of housing or a related field from a minimum of one years direct experience in a customer focussed role working directly with members of the public who are homeless and threatened with homelessness as well any other customer requiring housing advice. Knowledge of the Renters Rights Act is not essential as it is a new piece of legislation. The ability to quickly learn, apply and become an expert in new legislation or processes is essential. The role will involve working with people to prevent their homelessness and support them through a housing pathway. The successful candidate should therefore have a good knowledge of accommodation options, welfare benefits, safeguarding and partnership working and be able to negotiate with landlords to prevent evictions and engage service users to address their housing. The candidate will also need knowledge of how to support tenants to defend against possession proceedings where there is a reasonable prospect of doing so and providing advice on if defence proceedings have a prospect of succeeding. This will include knowledge of court processes. The candidate must be committed to providing good customer service, with a passion for preventing homelessness and able to support the council in reducing costs of temporary accommodation. Additional information This post requires a minimum of 5 GCSE including Maths and English (Bands 4 – 9 or equivalent) and A levels or equivalent. This post is subject to enhanced DBS clearance You will be required to provide a suitable vehicle for this post and to undertake the homeless out of hours function on a rota basis. This job includes duties that may require an element of physical effort and mobility on a frequent basis. This is a two year Fixed Term Contract We understand you may use AI tools to help you prepare your application. While these tools can be helpful, please ensure everything you share about your experiences, skills, and qualifications is authentic and truly reflects you. Your genuine story and real achievements are what we're most interested in! The closing date for applications is the 20th May, but we reserve the right to close applications early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications. Wyre Forest District Council is an equal opportunities employer Attached documents role-profile-renters right act officer.pdf