Housing Advisor

Wakefield Council; Wakefield; Hybrid; GBP 34,000 - 46,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Holiday buy option

Training programs

Wellbeing support

Public transport discounts

LGPS pension

Cycle to work

Job summary

Wakefield Council is seeking a Senior Housing Advisor to join the Housing Advice Team. You will provide specialist housing advice to tenants, licensees and owner occupiers in difficulty, supporting homelessness prevention and lawful tenancy practices.

You will undertake detailed housing, debt, and benefit casework, liaise with landlords and agencies, explore funding opportunities, and prepare court submissions.

Qualifications

• A qualification at level 4 of the qualifications and Credit Framework or significant work based experience.
• Detailed knowledge of landlord and tenant law.
• Detailed knowledge of the law relating to mortgages and secured loans.
• Detailed knowledge of homelessness legislation and case law.
• Working knowledge of welfare benefits.
• Understanding of debt and debt recovery procedures.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist, accurate housing advice to tenants, licensees, and owner occupiers.
• Liaise with landlords, government departments, and creditors for casework.
• Explore financial assistance applications from external sources and internal schemes.
• Prepare reports for submission to court and signpost to other services.
• Investigate complaints under relevant housing acts and prepare casefiles.
• Ensure landlord compliance with legislation and participate in case conferences.

Skills

Housing advice

Casework

Negotiation with agencies

Advocacy

Legal process knowledge

Education

Level 4 qualification

Job description

We are seeking a Senior Housing Advisor to join our Housing Advice Team To work as part of a team of Housing Advisors providing specialist, accurate and timely housing advice to tenants, licensees, and owner occupiers experiencing housing difficulty, those threatened with homelessness, or facing possession action. The postholder will ensure compliance with statutory duties under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 and new obligations arising from the Renters' Rights Act 2025, supporting early intervention, homelessness prevention, and lawful tenancy practice., To participate in a duty rota ensuring specialist advice is available during office hours to the Housing Needs Service Single Point of Access.

What will be expected from me?

• To undertake detailed advice and casework on housing, debt and benefit issues
• To liaise and negotiate with a wide range of agencies and groups, such as landlords, government departments, other local authority departments, employers, and creditors, in undertaking casework for clients.
• To explore & support applications for financial assistance available from a range of sources including external agencies and charities and internal scheme such as the Spend to Save budget and the Repossession Fund.
• Prepare reports and other supporting information for submission to court
• To signpost service users to other statutory, non-statutory and voluntary agencies that could offer assistance.
• To provide a comprehensive information advice, advocacy and consultancy service to individuals and agencies including households at risk of homelessness and other vulnerable services users.
• To investigate complaints under Protection from Eviction Act 1977, Renters Rights Act 2025 and other Landlord/Tenant legislation delegated to the Housing Needs Service and prepare detailed casefiles, including legal arguments and documents to support any legal/enforcement action
• To ensure landlord compliance with all relevant legislation regulating the investigation and prosecution of criminal offences, including Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. Participation in case conferences with the Team Leader, and representatives from Legal Services to prepare cases for appropriate action, including prosecution. Giving evidence in Magistrates and Crown Court as appropriate.
• To provide service users with a full appraisal of their housing situation providing realistic and assertive but sensitive advice taking into account individual needs and situations and to encourage them to consider all options available to them to prevent losing their existing accommodation or obtain new accommodation referring on to appropriate services.
• To Identify breaches of the Renters Rights Act 2025, and gather information required to issue a Civil Penalty under the relevant part of the Act.

Are you passionate about making a difference to our citizens and the district that they reside in? Then, we have an exciting opportunity for you to join our team.

• A qualification at level 4 of the qualifications and Credit Framework or significant work based experience
• A detailed knowledge of landlord and tenant law
• A detailed knowledge of the law relating to mortgages and secured loans
• A detailed knowledge of homelessness legislation and case law.
• A working knowledge of welfare benefits
• A thorough understanding of debt and debt recovery procedures

A competitive salary

• Generous holiday entitlement with the option to buy up to 10 extra days of annual leave
• Hybrid working (subject to role suitability)
• Access to high-quality training programs to advance your career to the next level.
• We are committed to supporting the wellbeing of our staff. We recognise that resilient teams need good work life balance as well as supportive leadership.
• Discounted and subsidised public transport (Arriva Bus Annual Travel Ticket, Northern Trains Limited (NTL), MetroCard).
• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and a Shared Cost Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVC) scheme providing a tax efficient way to increase our pension.
• Great range of benefits including an Employee Assistant Programme, discounted membership to our excellent leisure facilities with free 12 weeks exercise program, discounts for a range of retail, entertainment, health and leisure providers, a cycle to work scheme, and many more.