Housing Options and Homeless Prevention Officer

About us and the role

Hillingdon is London's second largest borough, with fantastic transport links with the A40, M25, the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines all local to us, so you can travel to work with ease and boasting over 20 square miles of scenic countryside, consisting of canals, rivers, parks and woodland. We’re also home to some of the world’s most renowned brands such as Coca-Cola and United Biscuits.

With an ambitious strategy we pride ourselves on delivering services that improves the lives of all our residents, businesses, and partners. Embarking on our journey of continuous improvement, we’ve set an agenda to ensure the provision of; safer communities, a thriving local economy, a greener more sustainable environment, whilst increasing our digital capabilities throughout the Borough.

Putting our residents first is at the heart of everything we do! We want talented individuals like you to share our aspirations for the borough, supporting us to deliver exceptional services for Hillingdon.

We are now recruiting for a part-time Housing Options and Homeless Prevention Officer reporting to the Senior Housing Options and Homeless Prevention Officer to join our busy Housing Options and Homeless Prevention team.

This role will work over 18 hours per week, and the salary will be pro-rata to reflect that.

As a Housing Options & Homeless Prevention Officer, you will take ownership of your own case load and work with clients to assess their housing needs. You will offer housing advice to prevent homelessness and support clients to access a broad range of housing options.

Main aspects of the role

The main aspects of the role are

• Delivering professional and responsive housing options advice
• Undertaking statutory assessments
• Managing a case load across housing options and homeless prevention
• Supporting and directing clients to access a broad range of housing options
• Ensuring statutory requirements are met
• Developing and maintaining effective relationships with private sector landlords, local managing and lettings agents
• Communicating effectively with customers, representatives, Elected Members and colleagues
• Identifying and suggesting any improvements to current ways of working in order to deliver a more efficient and effective service for residents.

About you

We're looking for someone who can demonstrate a commitment to a changing environment, a willingness to learn and someone with excellent Customer Service skills.

What we offer

The role offers a competitive salary of £33,351 to £34,341 (pro-rata) per year. Council practice is to offer at the bottom of the scale, however we may offer higher than the bottom dependent on experience. We offer a range of Company benefits. These vary according to the business area and role but may include:

• Local government average salary pension scheme
• Free parking (4 days a week) if based at the Civic Centre
• A 36-hour week for all full-time staff
• Generous holiday entitlement: a minimum 25 days a year (plus bank holidays), rising to 28 days after five years' service. For more senior positions holiday entitlements can rise to a maximum of 36 days
• Career breaks
• Flexible working hours
• Season ticket loan
• Access to a Credit Union
• On-site staff restaurant at Civic Centre
• Access to a wide range of training and courses
• Discount on a variety of Adult Education courses run by the Council
• Payment of professional fees where these are required
• Discounts at council-owned leisure centres and swimming pools at Hillingdon (Uxbridge), Queensmead (South Ruislip), Highgrove (Ruislip) and Botwell Green (Hayes)
• Cycle purchase scheme
• Car sharing scheme
• 30% discount on green fees at council-owned golf courses

Additional information

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. Applicants should be aware that the post will only be offered to successful candidates subject to an Enhanced DBS check as well as other employment clearances.

Due to an expected high number of applications, we may close the advert early. We therefore recommend you apply early to avoid disappointment.