Homelessness Prevention Officer

WMJobs; Worcester; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

Worcester City Council is seeking a Homelessness Prevention Officer to work with individuals and families facing housing crises, assessing needs and delivering tailored prevention interventions. You will collaborate with landlords and support services to protect tenancies, using housing legislation to support customers and prevent homelessness.

You will manage a personal caseload from intake to resolution, applying proportionate interventions and ensuring accurate case records.

Qualifications

• Build trusting relationships quickly with customers facing a housing crisis and take a compassionate, person-centred approach to support.
• Complete thorough housing and support needs assessments, identifying the root cause of homelessness and appropriate interventions.
• Manage a varied caseload independently, balancing competing priorities while maintaining excellent standards of case recording and administration.
• Apply housing and homelessness legislation effectively to support customers and make informed decisions.
• Investigate housing issues and tenancy concerns, gathering evidence and working with colleagues to resolve problems and prevent homelessness.
• Communicate clearly and professionally, both verbally and in writing, with customers, colleagues, landlords and partner organisations.

Responsibilities

• Manage own caseload from initial assessment through to resolution using prevention tools and interventions to achieve positive outcomes.
• Work closely with landlords, registered providers, support agencies and other statutory services to prevent homelessness before it reaches crisis point.

Job description

About The Service

Following the award of specialist government funding, we have created several new roles within our Housing & Homelessness Service to deliver our ambitious plans to prevent homelessness, reduce rough sleeping and protect vulnerable tenants. These newly created roles offer an exciting opportunity to make the role your own and help shape how the service is delivered from day one.

Worcester City Council,

About The Service

Following the award of specialist government funding, we have created several new roles within our Housing & Homelessness Service to deliver our ambitious plans to prevent homelessness, reduce rough sleeping and protect vulnerable tenants. These newly created roles offer an exciting opportunity to make the role your own and help shape how the service is delivered from day one.

Worcester City Council’s Housing & Homelessness Service is committed to supporting individuals and families experiencing homelessness or at risk of losing their home. We provide a wide range of support, both in-house and through strong partnerships, to help our customers achieve stable and secure housing.

Prevention is at the heart of our approach—we work proactively to help people remain in their homes or move to more suitable accommodation before reaching crisis point. In recent years, we have made significant improvements to our temporary accommodation, enhanced the support we offer, and focused on improving the overall customer experience. We are proud of the high-quality, person-centred service we deliver.

We are a large, dynamic service made up of five teams delivering a broad range of housing functions (see structure chart for more detail).

About The Role

Our Homelessness Prevention Officers are often the first point of contact for people facing a housing crisis. This is a rewarding and varied role where no two days are the same. You'll work directly with individuals and families who are homeless or threatened with homelessness, taking the time to fully understand their circumstances, identify the root causes of their housing difficulties and develop tailored solutions that help them remain safely housed wherever possible.

You will manage your own caseload from initial assessment through to resolution, using a range of prevention tools and interventions to achieve positive outcomes. This could include helping customers maximise their income, mediating with family members or landlords, resolving tenancy issues, accessing specialist support services, or using housing legislation and enforcement powers to challenge unlawful practices and protect existing tenancies. Working closely with landlords, registered providers, support agencies and other statutory services, you will take a creative, proactive and customer-focused approach to preventing homelessness before it reaches crisis point.

About You

We're looking for someone who is passionate about making a real difference to people's lives and who understands that effective homelessness prevention requires more than simply processing applications. You will be naturally curious, able to ask the right questions, gather information sensitively and build a complete picture of a customer's situation. Most importantly, you'll be able to develop practical, bespoke solutions that reflect the individual's circumstances and strengths rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach.

You should be able to:

• Build trusting relationships quickly with customers facing a housing crisis and take a compassionate, person-centred approach to support.
• Complete thorough housing and support needs assessments, identifying the root cause of homelessness and appropriate interventions.
• Manage a varied caseload independently, balancing competing priorities while maintaining excellent standards of case recording and administration.
• Apply housing and homelessness legislation effectively to support customers and make informed decisions.
• Investigate housing issues and tenancy concerns, gathering evidence and working with colleagues to resolve problems and prevent homelessness.
• Communicate clearly and professionally, both verbally and in writing, with customers, colleagues, landlords and partner organisations.

For full details of the role requirements, please see the attached Role Profile.

We welcome applications from all sections of the community.

For further information about the role, please contact Jade Foster, Homelessness Prevention & Projects Team Leader at [e-mail].

Closing Date: 28th September 2026

Interview date: Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th October 2026.

Attached documents

HR - Employee Benefits 2025 2.pdf

Person Specification - Homelessness Prevention Officer (x4).docx

Role Profile

Housing & Homelessness Service Structure Sep 2026.pdf