Homelessness Prevention Officer

Brighton and Hove City Council; Brighton; On-site; GBP 36,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

Brighton & Hove City Council is seeking a Homelessness Prevention Officer to join the Enhanced Support Team. The role focuses on leading the front-facing response to the Rough Sleeping Programme, applying housing law to help residents secure settled accommodation and delivering a trauma‑informed, person‑centred service to those experiencing homelessness.

The post is flexibly based, co‑located with partners, and funded for two years.

Qualifications

• Strong knowledge of housing issues within the city.
• Ability to engage with clients facing barriers to engagement.
• Experience in homelessness services and related policy.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Council’s response to the Rough Sleeping Programme with EST and partners.
• Apply Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Reduction Act in day‑to‑day work.
• Provide person‑centred and trauma‑informed support to residents.

Skills

Housing issues knowledge

People skills

Trauma-informed approach

Job description

Job profile for Homelessness Prevention Officer

Homelessness Prevention Officer

Location: Brighton Town Hall, Bartholomew Square, Brighton, BN1 1JS

Date: 08/11/2026

Job reference REQ0001579

Salary £35,570 to £40,444

Contractual hours 37

Basis Flexi Hours

We are pleased to offer a wide range of benefits to support you and your wellbeing. You can read about them on our Why work for us pages.

Do you have a strong knowledge of housing issues within the city? Are you a confident team player, wanting to improve the lives of adults experiencing homelessness?

We are looking to hire a Homelessness Prevention Officer who will be co‑located within our Enhanced Support Team, working in partnership to lead the Council’s front facing response to the Rough Sleeping Programme and commitment to reduce residents experiencing rough sleeping in the city. You will be working alongside a multi‑disciplinary team, focused on those experiencing rough sleeping and with multi‑compound need. You will be applying the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Reduction Act to support residents into settled accommodation. There will be a focus on providing a person centred and trauma informed response to support people to engage with the homeless application process and maintain or find a suitable, settled home. We are keen to hear from applicants who have insight into lived experience of homelessness and reflect the diverse make up of our city.

Grant funding is available for this post for two years.

There is further information about the role below and attached but, if you would like an informal discussion, please contact Fran Costello at [e-mail]

About the role

The successful candidate will work as a dedicated team, working with partners to respond to the Rough Sleeping Programme, which looks to significantly reduce number of people experiencing rough sleeping and providing longer term sustainable housing options. This role will be flexibly based to respond to the needs of our customers.

The Enhanced Support Team (EST) is a multi‑disciplinary team supporting adults experiencing homelessness and multiple compound needs, including mental ill‑health, substance use, physical health conditions, self‑neglect and social exclusion. The team works collaboratively with housing, health, social care and voluntary sector partners to provide intensive, person‑centred support, improve engagement with services, reduce barriers to accessing accommodation and promote positive outcomes for individuals with complex needs. The Homelessness Prevention Officer will play a key role, applying the Housing Act 1996 and Homelessness Reduction Act to support some of the city’s most vulnerable residents into settled accommodation.

A robust knowledge of the main causes for homelessness, particularly for single people and those with multi‑compound needs and remedies available is required and you will need to demonstrate an ability to innovate and adapt your approach to meet the needs of clients supported within the service.

We are looking for an exceptional and motivated person who is resilient and adaptable to change and able to work at pace. The post holder will be proactive in engaging and building relationships with services to improved outcomes for those facing homelessness. The role will involve engaging with clients who may face barriers to engage, including carrying out home visits and working across services in the city to get the best possible outcomes for our customers, residents and homeless applicants. A person‑centred, psychologically‑informed approach will be essential.

You do not need to be an expert in homelessness law although you will need to be able to apply housing law in your day to day work. You must be able to demonstrate exceptional people skills and a proven track record in obtaining successful outcomes for clients.

Brighton & Hove is a brilliant place to live and work; our services are nationally recognised and you will be working with experienced colleagues who are directly informing national initiatives through high profile work with central Government. You will need to offer excellent organisational, casework and case‑management skills and an ability to positively engage with people experiencing homelessness within the context of a housing market that is difficult to access.

Encouraging a diverse workforce

Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it’s what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled, male or trans.

Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti‑racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce (brighton-hove.gov.uk).

Why work for us?

• be connected
• be confident
• be innovative and creative
• be diverse and inclusive
• be healthy and psychologically safe

For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us which gives details of our wellbeing support, our benefits including leave and pensions as well as details of our training and development.

Please note that this post is subject to a Basic Disclosure Criminal Records Check.

We are a workplace that supports flexibility and employee wellbeing in the way we work whilst providing the best service for our customers. Team and service working arrangements are designed to support both employee work life balance and team collaboration. These would be part of your individual working arrangements alongside any personal preference agreed with your manager in advance of joining. Your contractual location will be the designated council office for your team and travel to and from your contractual location would be at your own expense.