Housing Project Worker

Wintercomfort; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 32,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension scheme

Death in service benefit

Free counselling and clinical support

Job summary

Wintercomfort in Cambridge is seeking a full-time Housing Project Worker to provide practical, person-centred housing support to people who are homeless or at risk, both at Overstream House and via community outreach.

You will deliver frontline casework, advocacy and practical help to secure and sustain safe, independent living, coordinate with landlords and local authorities, and support service users through housing processes and related welfare options.

Responsibilities

• Community and centre-based engagement with people at Overstream House.
• Housing-related support and homelessness prevention while recognising that formal housing advice is not provided.
• Casework, advocacy and practical support to help secure and sustain housing and transition to independent living.
• Develop and maintain referrals to welfare, counselling and other specialist services with local partners.
• Safeguarding, risk assessment and management of complex needs.
• Housing stability and targeted interventions, including landlord mediation and access to legal support.
• Maintain accurate case records and monitor outcomes for funder reports.

Job description

Hours of work: Full-Time, 37.5 per week (5 days per week)

Contract: 2-year 9-months Fixed Term

Salary: £28,000 per annum

Location: Overstream House, Cambridge CB4 or at other locations within Cambridge

About Us

Wintercomfort works with people who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or with a history of homelessness. We provide services to aid every stage of recovery - from immediate basic welfare needs to long term help in identifying and dealing with the problems which are undermining their stability, and enabling them to engage with education, employment and specialist health services. National statistics rank the numbers of rough sleepers in Cambridge within the highest 20 UK local authorities.

Wintercomfort is the only day-time service in the city, providing year-round advice and support for homeless or vulnerably housed people. Over the past three decades Wintercomfort has continued to grow and adapt to meet the needs of the homeless community.

Our specialist Housing Team provides expert advice and support to help people successfully navigate the search for housing and crucially, support them to sustain life away from the street.

About you and the Role

This is a full-time community outreach and homelessness prevention role, working as part of the Wintercomfort tenancy sustainment and homelessness prevention project worker team. The Wintercomfort Housing Project Worker will provide practical, person-centred, housing-related support for people identified through community outreach and within Overstream House who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

The postholder will deliver frontline casework, advocacy and practical support to help vulnerable individuals secure, maintain and transition into safe, independent living. This will include supporting people to understand the options available to them, complete practical tasks, access appropriate services, strengthen housing stability and work with local partners to prevent housing crises from escalating.

Key Responsibilities

• Community and Centre-Based Engagement – Build trusting relationships with people in familiar community settings and within Overstream House, including those who may feel unable to approach statutory services independently. Engage people at the earliest possible stage, identify practical support needs, and offer approachable, consistent support that encourages ongoing participation.
• Housing-Related Support and Homelessness Prevention – Provide practical housing-related support and homelessness prevention assistance while recognising that the charity does not provide formal housing advice to people at risk of losing their accommodation. Supporting individuals to gather information, complete forms, attend appointments, understand correspondence and access appropriate statutory, voluntary or legal services where specialist advice is required.
• Casework, Advocacy and Practical Support – Manage a caseload of people with varied and sometimes complex needs, providing one-to-one support, clear action planning and regular follow-up. Liaise with landlords, local authority housing teams and other agencies, accompany people to appointments where appropriate, and help individuals navigate housing-related processes, benefits, financial support, grants and wider welfare systems without providing regulated or specialist advice.
• Partnership Working and Referral Pathways – Develop and maintain productive working relationships with local authority services, landlords, voluntary sector partners, legal advice providers and internal charity services. Make timely referrals into welfare, counselling, women’s services, wellbeing support, training opportunities and other specialist provision where further advice or support is required.
• Safeguarding, Risk and Complex Needs – Recognise and respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns, mental health issues and other factors that may affect a person’s ability to engage with support. Work within organisational policies and professional boundaries, ensuring that risks are identified, recorded and escalated when necessary.
• Housing Stability and targeted intervention – Provide support to service users to both secure new accommodation and sustain their current homes, including mediation with landlords, accessing legal support, addressing anti-social behaviour. A core focus involves identifying high-risk groups and delivering targeted trauma informed interventions to those navigating complex mental health challenges, dual diagnosis, or substance misuse, as well as individuals fleeing difficult circumstances or leaving prison, hospital or care systems.
• Records, Outcomes and Service Development – Maintain accurate, timely and confidential case records on Inform, monitoring activity and outcomes to demonstrate the impact of the outreach programme. Contribute to service learning, identify gaps in provision, and support the development of effective community-based responses to homelessness and housing insecurity and deliver impactful case studies for funder reports.

One of our core values at Wintercomfort is to recognise and reward our staff as our greatest asset. We realise that it's our people who have helped us to become a well-respected charity that helps to make a positive change to homeless people’s lives. We want to continue to deliver excellent, relevant services for the homeless in Cambridge by attracting and retaining talented and motivated people.

If you choose to come and work with us, you will find that we offer:

• Benefits – You will be eligible for benefits and services, including pension scheme, death in service benefit and free counselling and clinical supervision.
• A supported work environment – You will receive a comprehensive induction, and you will have a probation period to provide a supportive framework for reviewing your progress and discussing your training and development needs. You will be expected to have developed the skills to fulfil all role requirements within this period. Appropriate objectives will be discussed, agreed and reviewed regularly with your Line Manager so that your performance can be measured against these.
• Training – We recognise the importance of having a motivated and effective staff team. We offer on-going training to support you in your role.

Closing date: Thursday 27th August 2026

Interested?

We are committed to a proactive approach to equality, which includes supporting and encouraging all underrepresented groups, promoting an inclusive culture and valuing diversity. We make selection decisions based on personal merit and an objective assessment against the criteria required for the post. We do not treat job applicants or members of staff less favourably than one another on the grounds of sex (including gender reassignment), marital or parental status, race, ethnic or national origin, colour, disability (including HIV status), sexual orientation, religion, age or socio-economic factors.