Housing Options Officer

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council; Ayot Green; On-site; GBP 33,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government council in the UK is seeking a passionate Housing Options Officer to join its team. This role involves assisting individuals threatened with homelessness and helping them find stable accommodation. Responsibilities include providing public services, negotiating with landlords, and determining legal duties owed to clients. The ideal candidate will have strong customer service, negotiation skills, and a desire to improve community welfare. Apply by May 5, 2025, with assessments and interviews scheduled for May 14 and 20, respectively.

Responsibilities

• Provide high quality public services to the local community.
• Assist members of the public to prevent threatened homelessness.
• Negotiate with landlords and relatives to prevent homelessness.
• Determine legal duties owed to customers.

Skills

Customer service

Negotiation

Communication

IT systems proficiency

Interpersonal skills

Job description

Housing Options Officer (RP0125)

12-month fixed term, 37 hours per week.

Starting salary £33,363 pa with potential progression to £39,974 pa on achieving designated skills and experience.

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council is investing in Homelessness Services and is looking for enthusiastic, passionate people to join the expanding team of Housing Options.

Are you passionate about helping people? Are you able to assist members of the public to prevent threatened homelessness, and help others find accommodation?

You will be part of the Housing Options team, providing housing advice and assistance to households who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.

You will assist customers to improve their situation so that they can remain in stable accommodation and will do this by negotiating with landlords and relatives to prevent homelessness. You will work towards getting single people and couples away from a life on the streets and help accommodate families and vulnerable people when they have lost accommodation.

You will demonstrate your ability to deal with emotionally challenging cases in difficult situations, providing advice to members of the public and determining what legal duties are owed to customers who approach the Council for assistance.

Responsibilities

Provide high quality public services to the local community.

Assist members of the public to prevent threatened homelessness, and help others find accommodation.

Negotiate with landlords and relatives to prevent homelessness.

Determine legal duties owed to customers who approach the Council for assistance.

Qualifications

• An interest in providing high quality public services to the local community
• Experience of working with the public and providing excellent levels of customer service
• The ability to negotiate with others and find solutions to complicated situations
• Experience of working with several IT systems and ability to learn new systems to a high standard
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• An interest in learning about homelessness and developing or increasing their understanding of homelessness legislation and case law

If you are passionate about helping people and assisting those in housing need, and also thrive under pressure and enjoy team working - we want to hear from you.

What the council is really looking for is someone with a true customer focus, an understanding of what great customer service involves and a commitment to delivering outstanding results.

How to apply

Closing date for applications is 5 May 2025. Assessments will be held on 14 May 2025 with interviews on 20 May 2025.