About the Role and our Ideal Candidate
To proactively engage with and support households who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including those in Temporary Accommodation, by visiting them in their homes to identify their most likely route to re-housing in settled accommodation.
What the successful candidate will be expected to:
* Work intensively with households, including home visits, to establish their route to settled accommodation.
* Support households in accessing move-on options such as qualifying offers, private rented sector access, and supported housing.
* Liaise with other parts of the service to identify suitable private rented accommodation.
* Advise clients on how to source accommodation themselves and available assistance.
* Undertake holistic assessments of needs, including financial assessments.
* Use a range of resources and tools to support the move-on process.
* Undertake procedures for housing customers into private rented sector and other accommodation types, ensuring compliance with statutory requirements.
* Support and advise service users on housing register applications and providing information for Housing Act 1996 (Part Vii) applications.
* Build relationships with clients to manage expectations and identify support needs for sustaining future accommodation.
* Work with other agencies involved in care and resettlement to ensure residents sustain temporary housing and move to settled housing.
* Undertake home visits to verify applicant's residence and housing needs for Housing Solutions Team and Housing Register investigations.
* Manage caseloads and data, monitoring delivery of targets.
* Capture, record, and provide relevant data and outcomes monitoring.
* Maintain a thorough understanding of relevant legislation, including Housing Act 1996, Homeless Reduction Act 2017, Children’s Act, Care Act, HHSRS, landlord and tenant legislation, benefits, welfare rights, immigration, asylum, matrimonial and family law.
* Develop and maintain knowledge and skills around safeguarding issues and raise concerns appropriately.
About You
Essential Qualifications, Experience, Skills and Abilities
* Knowledge and understanding of the housing and support needs of vulnerable tenants.
* Knowledge of repairing and health and safety obligations relating to temporary accommodation.
* Knowledge of housing benefit (Local Housing Allowance), Discretionary Housing Payments, income benefits, and assistance to residents in managing arrears repayment and debt management.
* Knowledge of safeguarding requirements.
* Knowledge of housing options available to households to prevent homelessness.
* Experience of working in a busy, frontline public housing service or similar.
* Experience of dealing with a diverse and vulnerable clientele face-to-face.
* Experience of working in a pressurized and high‑profile environment within a multidisciplinary team.
* Experience of the application and administration of welfare benefits, Housing Benefit, and other related payments.
* Experience of using different IT systems to manage caseloads and monitor targets.
* Excellent interpersonal skills, including active listening and negotiating.
* Customer service focused.
* Ability to think, plan, and act with a creative approach to problem‑solving.
* Ability to work unsupervised, prioritise workloads, and achieve targets and deadlines.
* An excellent knowledge of negotiation and mediation techniques and their practical application.
* Ability to question and challenge ways of working, with an understanding of the bigger picture.
* Demonstrate agility and adaptability in mindset and ways of working.
* Ability to work successfully with key stakeholders within and outside of the Council.
* Commitment to own personal and professional development.
* Demonstrate innovation and creativity.
* Actively engage in positive cross‑organisational communications and team working.
* Communicate clearly, confidently, and appropriately with colleagues.
Special Conditions of Recruitment
* Must be able to undertake all physical tasks associated with conducting property/site visits.
About Us
The Community Housing Directorate of Place is committed to providing excellent customer service and achieving the best outcomes for our residents. We work collaboratively with internal and external partners to deliver effective housing solutions and support vulnerable individuals and households. This role has a significant impact on customers, ensuring their welfare and housing situation, and is key to achieving year‑on‑year reductions of households in temporary accommodation.
#J-18808-Ljbffr