Housing Specialist

Transformation Unit; Worthing; Hybrid; GBP 32,000 - 39,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Hybrid working

Job summary

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Housing Specialist (NHS AfC: Band 5) in Worthing. The role provides housing advice and interventions to adults open to mental health services, with travel across the Crawley area and occasional travel outside the district.

You will work with Local Housing Authority partners to apply homelessness legislation and connect service users to settled housing options, while supporting vulnerable people and ensuring timely housing input.

Qualifications

• Experience in housing advice or homelessness services.
• Knowledge of housing policy, homelessness duties and social housing allocation.
• Understanding safeguarding of vulnerable adults and children.

Responsibilities

• Deliver specialist housing advice and interventions to people using our services.
• Prepare information for Local Housing Authority decision makers.
• Collaborate with housing and mental health teams across multiple sites.

Skills

Housing advice

Interpersonal skills

Organisational skills

Education

Undergraduate degree in relevant field

Job description

Main area Administration Grade NHS AfC: Band 5 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday - Friday) Job ref 354-CO-21999

Employer Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Portland House Town Worthing Salary £32,073 - £39,043 pa Salary period Yearly Closing 18/11/2026 09:00 Interview date 05/11/2026

Housing Specialist

NHS AfC: Band 5

Come and join us

We’re looking for people who share our values of compassion, accountability and optimism to help us provide high quality care for the patients, carers, families and communities we serve. We specialise in NHS mental health and learning disability services and we’re proud to make a difference every day.

At SPFT we put people first. We’ll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You’ll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.

We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it’s part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we’ll explore what works for you and the role.

We recognise that tools like AI are becoming part of everyday life and you may choose to use them when preparing your application. We welcome this, as long as what you submit reflects your own experience, skills and voice. AI can be helpful for structuring or refining your answers, but it should not replace your own examples or create content that isn’t based on your real experience.

Our recruitment process is designed to get to know you, and we’ll explore your examples further at interview, so it’s important your application genuinely represents what you bring. You can read more about using AI in applications and interviews on our recruitment process page .

We’re shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve. If that sounds like the kind of organisation you want to be part of, we’d love to hear from you.

Job overview

Housing Specialists will join a 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 Crawleyarea 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

The successful candidate will have formal working arrangement with Hastings 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

Working for our organisation

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.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To deliver specialist housing advice, assistance, and interventions to people who use our services in relation to their housing needs which will prevent or relieve homelessness, secure good quality and longer term settled housing solutions, and reduce financial hardship.

Prepare information and support decision makers on formal applications for assistance, on behalf of the Local Housing Authority they are attached to, from persons who may be homeless or threatened with homelessness, acting in accordance with the homelessness legislation, statutory Code of Guidance and the policies of the relevant Local Housing Authority.

To work between local mental health and housing systems to ensure people who use our services and staff receive high quality and timely specialist housing input and access to wider housing teams and referral pathways.

The position will be primarily based within the Crawley area and the applicant will be expected to travel across multiple sites across the district. On occasion this may involve travel outside the Worthing area in order to meet need.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in relevant field or equivalent experience
• Evidence of continuous professional development

Knowledge/Experience

• Significant experience of working in a professional housing advice capacity with people who have housing and mental health needs
• 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
• 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

SPFT is committed to building a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We particularly welcome applications from people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and from disabled candidates, as these groups are currently underrepresented.

Successful candidates are normally appointed to the bottom of the pay scale unless previous NHS experience in a similar role can be evidenced.

SPFT takes its responsibilities for safeguarding children, young people and adults at risk very seriously. We expect all staff and bank workers to share this commitment and complete the relevant safeguarding training for their role.

If you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date, please assume your application has been unsuccessful. However, we’ll always do our best to keep you informed as we know how much time and care goes into applying for a role.

In the event of a high number of applications, we may close this vacancy early.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.