Homeless Prevention and Relief Officer

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council; Reigate; On-site; GBP 37,000 - 43,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

LGPS pension

Cycle lease (salary sacrifice)

Discounts

Leisure centre membership

Annual leave

Job summary

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council is seeking a Homeless Prevention and Relief Officer to join the housing team at Town Hall, Reigate. You will manage a caseload, deliver frontline homelessness prevention, and work with partners to explore housing options for residents in need.

The role requires knowledge of housing legislation (Part VII Housing Act 1996) and excellent customer service, with duties including town hall cover and duty officer rotations. Hybrid working may be considered.

Qualifications

• Detailed knowledge of Part VII Housing Act 1996 (as amended).
• Experience of working in a busy front line housing service.
• Ability to interview clients, assess circumstances, and identify housing options.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work on your own initiative and meet deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Manage own caseload and provide customer service to residents.
• Carry out detailed case work investigations and issue statutory decision letters.
• Cover daily operational duties including town hall cover and duty officer rota.
• Assist with housing advice emails and Housing Advice phone line.
• Work with partners including housing associations, domestic abuse services, landlords, police, social services and others.

Skills

Verbal communication

Written communication

Team player

Initiative

Job description

The job requirements are detailed below. Where applicable the skills, qualifications and memberships required for this job have also been included.

Job details

Job title Homeless Prevention and Relief Officer Job reference REQ001029 Date posted 14/10/2026 Application closing date 18/11/2026 Location Town Hall, Reigate Salary £37,074 - £43,395 Employment type Permanent Full time Contractual hours 36 Basis Full time Job category/type Housing Attachments Blank Job description

Job Title: Homeless Prevention and Relief Officer
Location of work: Town Hall
Salary: £37,074 - £43,395 per annum, dependant on experience
Basis: Permanent Full time – 36 hours per week

About the Role

In this fast paced and exciting role, you will make a difference for our residents who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and in housing need. Our Homeless Prevention & Relief Officers are on the frontline in proactively working with households facing homelessness to sustain their accommodation where possible or assist with securing alternative accommodation.

You will be responsible for managing your own caseload and providing excellent customer service to our residents. You will carry out detailed case work investigations and issue statutory decision letters in line with current homeless legislation. You will support our most vulnerable residents at a time of crisis, working with and empowering them to resolve their threat of homelessness. You will be responsible for covering daily operational duties, including town hall cover, homeless duty officer rota, assisting with housing advice emails, Housing Advice phone line and any other duties on a rota basis.

You will be working with a friendly, supportive, positive and diverse housing team. We will provide you with a wealth of training opportunities. At Reigate & Banstead we work in partnership with professionals where we aim to prevent homelessness at the earliest opportunity.

The work is fast paced, and no two days are the same. We are proud to be an innovative and forward-thinking team who constantly strive to develop best practice to support residents.

About the Person

You must have excellent verbal and written communication skills, be an outstanding team player and be able to work on your own initiative. A commitment to providing high standards of customer service, with the skill and discipline to deliver this across a varied workload and to work to deadlines are essential.

We are looking for a positive, supportive, flexible and innovative person that can engage well with households experiencing housing need. You will be a colleague with an outstanding commitment and enthusiasm in supporting our most vulnerable residents.

You will have detailed knowledge of Part VII Housing Act 1996 (as amended) and experience of working in a busy front line housing service. You will provide comprehensive housing advice to households with a range of circumstances. You will interview clients, assess their circumstances, decide what statutory duties may be owed, and identify their housing options. You will work collaboratively with other partners including housing associations, domestic abuse support services, private landlords, police, social services, substance treatment agencies and other relevant stakeholders.

The role is largely Town Hall based at our modern offices in Reigate as well as visiting residents in the borough. Some hybrid working, if agreed with the Homeless Relief Team Leader.

Ideally applicants will be familiar with relevant legislation, the benefits system and will have experience of working in a role providing housing advice and/or tenancy support.

Staff Benefits

In exchange for your expertise, experience and enthusiasm, we will offer support in continuing your personal and career development, in addition to providing a wide range of employment linked benefits.

We provide you with competitive annual leave, and contribute 22.10% towards the LGPS pension scheme. You will also have access to a range of discounts including local and high street stores, and salary sacrifice schemes including a cycle lease scheme, and ‘Better’ leisure centre membership.

Additional Information

For an informal discussion about the role, please call Stuart Richens, Homeless Relief Team Leader on [phone].

We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer, supporting the guaranteed interview scheme for disabled and ex-armed forces candidates, who meet the essential criteria for the role.

Closing date: Wednesday 18th November 2026 at 23:59hrs
Interview date: TBC

We understand that some applicants may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist with preparing their applications. All submitted information—whether supported by AI or not—must accurately reflect the applicant’s own skills, experience, and qualifications. Recruitment decisions will be based on how well applicants demonstrate these attributes during the interview and selection process.

Values and Behaviours

Our great working environment and the values and behaviours of every individual and team in the Council, help to evolve the culture of our organisation to become more commercial, innovative and embracing of change. Successful applicants to our career opportunities will be able to demonstrate they share the values and behaviours we seek in our organisation.

Local Government Reorganisation

Reigate and Banstead Borough Council is part of the government’s plans for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) scheduled to take place in April 2027. This means the current two-tier system, where services are split between Surrey County Council and district and borough councils like Reigate, will be replaced with two unitary councils made up of East and West Surrey, which will handle all local services. Reigate and Banstead Borough Council will form part of the new East Surrey unitary authority.

Although this may lead to some uncertainty for anyone considering a role with us, this process will take some time and during that time we still need to provide services. When local government is reorganised, most staff will transfer to the new council(s) which may offer additional opportunities for career development and variety as part of a larger organisation.

Further information on LGR can be found here: Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) and Devolution | Reigate and Banstead

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Copyright Reigate and Banstead Borough Council 2014