Housing Support Worker

Morgan Hunt UK Limited; Blackburn; On-site; GBP 10,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading Northwest charity is looking for a Housing Support Worker in Blackburn. You will deliver a proactive housing management service, assisting vulnerable individuals to maintain stable living conditions. The ideal candidate will show good literacy skills, experience in housing management, and a positive attitude. The role is temporary, with a potential path to permanence and offers £15 – £16 per hour for 37.5 hours weekly. The shift involves working weekends on a rotation.

Qualifications

• Good literacy and numeracy skills, qualifications preferred.
• Experience delivering effective resettlement and independence plans.
• Experience in housing management or related support fields.
• Ability to build relationships with clients and colleagues.
• Understanding of supported housing work and homelessness causes.
• Experience in managing housing functions and liaising with landlords.

Responsibilities

• Deliver a proactive housing management service to customers.
• Support customers in claiming housing benefits and managing payments.
• Manage customer rent accounts to minimize arrears.
• Re-let void properties swiftly with inspections and repairs.
• Conduct sign-up procedures for new customers.
• Prevent antisocial behavior and manage visitor interactions.

Skills

Good literacy and numeracy skills

Experience in supporting positive client outcomes

Experience in housing management/support

Ability to develop effective relationships

Awareness of supported housing and homelessness causes

Confident with a positive attitude

Job description

Housing Support Worker

Blackburn

37.5 hours per week

Rota across 8am - 4pm and 12 – 8pm, working one weekend in 6

Temporary with the potential to become permanent

£15 – £16 per hour

Our client

Morgan Hunt is working with a leading Northwest charity who provide accommodation and support for vulnerable people at risk of homelessness in and across the Northwest. Support services are aimed at helping customers to develop the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to maintain a stable home and a structured lifestyle before assisting them in the process of securing or retaining permanent independent accommodation. This is a mixed, over 18 service in a hostel setting in Blackburn on a shift pattern of 8 – 4 or 12 – 8 working one weekend in 6, all on a rotation.

The role

• Deliver a proactive housing management service to customers, to enable customers to meet the conditions of their occupancy agreement, including monitoring rent and service charge payments and promptly dealing with any instances of anti-social behaviour by the customer or other breaches of occupancy.
• Support customers to maximise their income, claim housing benefit at sign‑up and to promptly liaise with the Council's Housing Benefit Department/DWP regarding applications, overpayments, changes of circumstances or sanctions or benefit sanctions.
• Manage the rent accounts for customers across the service to ensure that current customer arrears and former customer arrears are kept to a minimum, including serving appropriate notices to customers where they consistently fail to make rent/service charge payment and their arrears are increasing.
• Keep void losses to a minimum by ensuring that swift action is taken to re‑let void properties, including carrying out property inspections before and after the customer vacates the premises, ordering any repairs and replacement fixtures and fittings that are needed and arranging for the scheme cleaners to clean the property.
• Carry out sign‑up procedures with new customers, ensuring that customers are given information on tenancy responsibilities and arrangements for reporting repairs.
• Support customers to proactively manage visitors to the premises and prevent antisocial or nuisance behaviour to other customers or neighbours.

The candidate

We would love to hear from people who have:

• Good literacy and numeracy skills (qualifications or conditions)
• Experience in delivering/supporting positive outcomes for clients through the delivery of effective resettlement and independence plans
• Experience in providing housing management, housing related support, care and support, or housing advice in any of the following fields: housing management, supported housing, housing advice work, youth and community work or other work supporting homeless people
• Ability to develop effective working relationships and rapport with clients and colleagues
• Awareness and understanding of supported housing work, and the causes of homelessness
• Ability to carry out robust support and housing management functions including liaising with landlords and contractors, and collection of rent and service charges where applicable
• Confident with a positive, ‘can do’ attitude

Morgan Hunt is a multi-award-winning recruitment business for interim, contract and temporary recruitment and acts as an Employment Agency in relation to temporary vacancies.

Morgan Hunt is an equal opportunities employer, job suitability are assessed on merit in accordance with their skills, qualifications and abilities to perform the relevant duties required in a particular role.