Housing Advice & Homeless Prevention Officer

Description

Our local government clients are recruiting a Housing Advice & Homeless Prevention Officer to support the service by enhancing the volume of properties the service procures for both grant-funded and general-funded households that the homelessness service supports. The officer will have a key role in ensuring an organisation operates smoothly and cost-effectively.

Your key responsibilities will include:

Responsible for proactively delivering housing options advice, including security of tenure, low-cost home ownership, preventing homelessness, investigating householder circumstances and undertaking statutory assessments to determine the best options and resources available on a case-by-case basis.

Qualification – Essential

• GCSE Grade (or equivalent) in English Language and Mathematics.
• NVQ, Diploma, relevant degree or relevant experience
• Advanced –Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, Outlook, Social Media and CRM.

Qualifications, Knowledge, and Experience Requirements - Criteria to be Evaluated at the Shortlisting Stage.

• Ability and willingness to participate in a rota system for the Emergency Out-of-Hours Housing Service, if required.
• Ability to work flexibly to meet the needs of the service.
• Able to visit clients Borough-wide and outside the Borough, if required.
• Experience working in a front-facing team interviewing and assessing clients with a need for assistance.
• Experience in case work and the application of case work management systems.
• Experience of effective multi-disciplinary working.
• Experience of working on defined operational projects, working to tight deadlines and objectives with minimum supervision.
• Have an excellent working knowledge (or demonstrate the ability to have or acquire) of all elements of housing needs and housing advice.
• Knowledge of homelessness prevention, property allocation and choice-based lettings.
• To have a comprehensive and cross-cutting understanding of relevant policy and strategy areas.
• Ability to handle conflict or potential conflict situations with clients who may be distressed or dissatisfied.
• Strong negotiation and influencing skills with the ability to challenge appropriately.
• Ability to build and maintain a thorough working knowledge of using data and case management systems.
• Proven ability to work with several software applications in conjunction, and proficiency in office ICT tools and
• database use.

Essential Compliance Requirements

• 3 Years References
• Enhanced DBS
• A pre-engagement screening is mandatory for this role. Please be prepared for this additional step in the application process.

Diamond Blaque Group, a leading provider in the public sector, is acting as an employment agency for this vacancy. Our organisation is deeply committed to fostering an environment of equal opportunity and diversity in the workplace.