Housing Specialist

NHS; Worthing; On-site; GBP 31,000 - 38,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional mental health service provider is seeking a Housing Specialist to join their team. The role involves providing housing advice and interventions, focusing on individuals with mental health needs. Essential qualifications include an undergraduate degree and strong knowledge of housing policy. Candidates should be prepared to liaise with local authorities and support vulnerable clients facing housing difficulties. This is a permanent, full-time position based in Worthing, offering a salary range of £31,049 to £37,796 annually.

Benefits

Flexible working options

Regular supervision and support

Qualifications

• Good knowledge of housing policy and local authority homelessness duties.
• Formal experience in housing advice with mental health needs is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Provide housing advice and interventions to adults using mental health services.
• Deliver specialist housing assessments and action plans.

Skills

Knowledge of housing policy

Experience with mental health clients

Education

Undergraduate degree in relevant field

Job description

Job Summary

Housing Specialists will join a newly created Housing Team within Sussex Partnership Trust which looks to embed housing expertise across our adult mental health services. Housing Specialists provide housing advice and interventions to people open to adult mental health services. Each Housing Specialist is assigned a host Local Authority area and accepts housing referrals for service users living in that area.

The role will involve travel across various sites across the Crawley area which will include inpatient and community mental health teams, Council Offices, and people's homes. On occasion this could include travel outside of the district. Housing Specialists are expected to work face to face and virtually with people subject to need, demand, location and communication preference.

Successful applicants will have strong knowledge of housing and homelessness legislation, processes, and practice coupled with experiences of providing housing advice services to vulnerable people. Although not essential as training will be provided, it would be advantageous for applicants to have had some experience working with people who experience severe and enduring mental health problems.

Main Duties of the Job

Housing Specialists will receive referrals for people using adult mental health services who have a variety of housing needs. You will be responsible for delivering specialist housing advice, assistance and interventions for adults using mental health services in a way that prevents or relieves homelessness, or improves poor housing quality. This will be done by completing full housing assessments, creating clear action plans that help address the persons housing needs, and coordinating activity required to secure a positive outcome. You will be expected to manage and prioritise a caseload of people who are in housing need across your designated area alongside contributing to an office hours team duty system in place for referrals across Sussex.

The successful candidate will have formal working arrangement with Crawley Borough Council. A part of this role will be preparing information on behalf of the Local Housing Authority for individuals who may be homeless or threatened with homelessness. Housing Specialists will act in accordance with mental health and homelessness legislation including statutory Codes of Guidance and policies relevant to their Local Housing Authority.

About Us

We recognise that working in mental health can be stressful at times so we prioritise staff welfare; providing regular supervision, mentoring, and any other support that our staff need to ensure their wellbeing. We also encourage flexible working.

We know that a positive work/life balance brings about huge health-related benefits, which has a positive impact on the care we provide. Please speak to us about flexible working, for example, partial home-working, part-time hours, or flexible start/finish times. If it works for you and works for the role, we'll do our best to make it happen.

Our vision is to provide outstanding care and treatment; the people that we employ are at the heart of making this vision a reality. If you've got the passion, the belief, the drive and the talent to help us achieve our vision then we would like to hear from you.

To protect the health and safety of our staff/workers, patients, and those attending our sites, we encourage our workforce to get fully vaccinated against COVID.

Person Specification

Essential

• Undergraduate degree in relevant field or equivalent experience
• Good knowledge and understanding of relevant areas of housing policy and practice including the law relating to local housing authority homelessness duties and the allocation of social housing

Desirable

• Experience of working in a professional housing advice capacity with people who have housing and mental health needs
• Evidence of continuous professional development
• Good understanding of the role and responsibilities in relation to the safeguarding of vulnerable adults and children
• Experience of partnership working within and across various statutory and non‑statutory teams and agencies

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications.

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement.

Employer Details

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Portland House, Richmond Road, Worthing, BN11 1HS

Job Details

Posted: 17 December 2025

Pay Scheme: Agenda for Change

Band: Band 5

Salary: £31,049 to £37,796 a year Per annum

Contract: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full‑time

Reference Number: 354‑CO‑21762(R)

Job Locations: Portland House, Richmond Road, Worthing, BN11 1HS

Employer’s Website

https://www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/