Housing Solutions Officer

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; Greater London; On-site; GBP 36,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Structured mentorship

Secondment opportunities

Wellbeing programmes

Local government pension scheme

Job summary

Kensington and Chelsea is seeking a Housing Solutions Officer to support residents in crisis, turning complex housing legislation into practical paths to settled homes. The role focuses on prevention, effective assessments and collaborative, person-centred casework across council services.

You will work with adult and children’s services, health teams and partners to coordinate joined-up support and ensure fair access to housing options.

Qualifications

• Proven interpersonal skills to communicate empathetically with residents in crisis.
• Strong casework and analytical abilities to investigate facts and apply legislation.
• Excellent organisational skills and time management to balance caseloads.
• Commitment to fairness, integrity and safeguarding.

Responsibilities

• Assess housing needs, affordability and suitability, in partnership with applicants.
• Conduct proactive casework to prevent homelessness and negotiate with landlords as needed.
• Evaluate evidence and issue legally compliant decision letters within statutory timeframes.
• Collaborate with social care, health teams and other agencies to coordinate support.

Skills

Empathetic communication

Active listening

De-escalation

Casework

Analytical thinking

Job description

Job Description

Help residents find stable ground and build secure, settled futures

As a Housing Solutions Officer, you’ll support residents facing crisis, turning complex legislation into clear, realistic paths towards settled homes. When housing security is at risk, you’ll step in with practical solutions and a supportive approach, keeping early prevention at the centre of everything you do.

What You’ll Be Doing

Your day will involve regular contact with residents over the telephone and face to face, offering clear, empathetic guidance during moments of acute crisis. You’ll listen actively, gather essential information and de‑escalate challenging situations with calm professionalism, helping residents feel supported and understood from the very start.

You’ll assess housing needs, affordability and suitability, working in partnership with applicants to co‑create tailored Personal Housing Plans focused on sustainable outcomes. Beyond initial assessments, you’ll conduct proactive casework to prevent homelessness, whether that involves negotiating with landlords, mediating tenancy disputes or visiting residents in the community.

Applying Part VI and Part VII of the Housing Act 1996, you’ll evaluate evidence, issue legally compliant statutory decision letters and maintain accurate records across internal IT systems in line with H-CLIC and data protection standards. You will also identify safeguarding concerns, domestic abuse and vulnerability indicators, completing thorough risk assessments and escalating cases swiftly in line with Council procedures.

Collaboration will be central to your day‑to‑day work. Alongside managing your own caseload, you’ll work closely with adult and children’s social care, health teams, probation and the Department for Work and Pensions to coordinate joined‑up support. You’ll also take part in duty rotas covering telephone enquiries, service inboxes and face‑to‑face enquiries, ensuring our service remains accessible, responsive and fair.

What You’ll Bring

You’ll bring proven interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate empathetically with people from diverse backgrounds facing crisis. Listening actively, staying composed under pressure and having the confidence to ask the right questions will enable you to understand complex personal circumstances with care and sensitivity.

Frontline housing work requires strong emotional resilience and emotional intelligence. You’ll be someone who feels comfortable navigating sensitive conversations, explaining tough decisions and realistic options with clarity, honesty and compassion.

You’ll bring strong casework and analytical abilities, enabling you to investigate facts, weigh up complicated evidence and apply legislation accurately. Exceptional organisational skills and time management are essential to balance competing caseload demands and produce detailed, legally sound decisions within statutory timeframes.

A collaborative mindset is vital, along with a firm commitment to fairness and integrity. Whether you are a recent law graduate, a social worker or an experienced practitioner from the voluntary sector or local government, your commitment to supporting vulnerable residents will enable you to thrive in this role.

Why join us

At RBKC, we’re all in – investing in our people, our communities and our future.

You’ll join a welcoming, hardworking team within a service that has recently achieved Bronze DAHA (Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance) accreditation, reflecting our dedication to high standards of support. What sets Kensington and Chelsea apart is our proactive housing approach: rather than relying on standard answers, we explore constructive options through an extensive range of accommodation pathways and partnership initiatives.

We are committed to helping you develop your career, offering continuous professional learning, structured mentorship and secondment opportunities across the Council. Alongside a competitive Grade E salary, generous annual leave and a respected local government pension scheme, you’ll benefit from comprehensive wellbeing programmes and a working environment that values your contribution to the borough.

About Us

Kensington and Chelsea is home to diverse communities, thriving businesses and unique local places. Everything we do is focused on supporting our residents, strengthening our approach and creating a fairer borough.

As a competent and caring Council, we take pride in our work every day, ensuring our services are delivered with care and competence. We listen to our residents, act with integrity and work together to build a borough that is greener, safer and fairer for all.

In Housing Solutions, the ‘we’re all in’ mindset is central to this role. Frontline casework can be demanding, and navigating personal crises is not always smooth sailing, but your calm, thoughtful approach will help residents feel supported and understood. By committing fully to our residents and finding practical solutions together, your casework directly helps build a fairer borough.

Interview Details

Interviews will take place W/C 14/12/26.

Working Style

You’ll be based in the Borough for between three and five days each week, subject to the needs of the service. Whether you’re working directly with residents in our central London offices or supporting them out in the community. Whether you’re working directly with residents in our central London offices or supporting them out in the community, you’ll be part of a dedicated team helping to make a real difference to people’s everyday lives.

We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning subject to the volume of suitable applicants.

We are committed to promoting equality and respecting diversity and welcome applications from all sections of the community.

We are a Disability Confident Employer – committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible.

We are committed to fair, transparent, and consistent pay practices. New hires will start at the minimum of the advertised salary range.

Employees receive annual salary increases until they reach the top of the pay scale. In addition, employees will receive any agreed cost of living pay rises.