Housing Triage Officer

Portsmouth City Council; Portsmouth; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

Portsmouth City Council's Housing Needs Advice & Support team is seeking a Housing Triage Officer. As the first point of contact, you will handle a wide range of enquiries face-to-face, by phone and email, provide initial advice, and signpost to appropriate services.

You will assess customers, gather information, explain housing policy, and record interactions on our IT systems. The role requires empathy, resilience, and the ability to prioritise multiple requests in a busy housing service.

Qualifications

• Interest and experience with issues facing vulnerable and homeless households.
• Excellent listening skills and ability to gather information to understand needs.
• Clear verbal and written communication, including explaining housing policy.
• Excellent organisational skills and ability to prioritise daily demand from customers.
• Flexible, responsive to changing priorities and demand.
• Good team player with empathy and tact in customer interactions.
• Ability to think on your feet and adapt solutions.

Responsibilities

• Act as the first point of contact for customers seeking housing advice and help.
• Listen carefully to understand each customer’s circumstances and gather information.
• Provide initial assessment and advise on housing options (housing register, homelessness, private renting).
• Explain criteria for social housing and signpost to relevant services as needed.
• Use IT systems to maintain clear records of each contact.
• Undertake other administrative duties as required.

Skills

Listening skills

Empathy

Communication

Organisational skills

Team player

Adaptability

Resilience

IT skills

Tools

IT systems

Job description

Housing Needs Advice & Support is recruiting for the role of Housing Triage Officer. The Housing Triage Officer is the first point of contact for customers needing help and advice with housing. This is an exciting and varied role dealing with a wide range of enquiries, giving advice and referring customers for further assessment where needed. You will be part of a team which deals with the initial contact from customers face to face and by telephone and email. You will need to listen carefully to understand the circumstances of each customer, showing understanding and empathy to each person. You will make an initial assessment of each customer's circumstances, gathering information and asking questions to clarify the circumstances. You will give advice on a range of housing issues including the Portsmouth Housing Register, homelessness and private renting. You will deal with enquiries yourself, explaining the criteria for accessing social housing and where appropriate will signpost to other relevant services. Where further assessment is required, you will understand the main presenting demand and identify the correct team to progress an assessment. Using our IT systems, you will make clear records of each contact. You will undertake other administrative duties as required. You will need excellent listening skills, patience and empathy as well as resilience and an ability to think on your feet and manage multiple priorities. This is an excellent opportunity if you are looking for a career in housing as you will gain a wide range of experience and knowledge and an opportunity to enhance your skills working with customers.
We are looking for somebody who:

• Has an interest and experience of the issues facing vulnerable and homeless people and households with housing needs, and a desire to work to assist customers to resolve these issues.
• Has excellent listening skills and is able process and gather information to understand what is needed and wanted by a customer.
• Is confident and can clearly and effectively communicate both verbally and in writing, giving advice and explaining housing policy to our customers.
• Has excellent organisational skills, and an ability to prioritise work to meet the daily demand from customers to the service.
• Is flexible and able to respond to changing priorities and levels of customer demand.
• Is an excellent team player.
• Is able to show empathy and understanding to customers contacting the service and deal tactfully and sensitively with their enquiry.
• Is adaptable, able think on their feet to find solutions to deal with the presenting issues.
• Is emotionally resilient and able to deal with the impact of being exposed to customer's difficult circumstances, and remain professionally detached and focused even if the message you deliver involves saying no.
• Has an awareness of equalities issues and is committed to equal opportunities.
• Has an understanding of safeguarding and ability to recognise safeguarding concerns and take appropriate action to manage risk.
• Works proactively and is able to remain motivated, working on their own initiative.
• Has IT skills suited to working in a busy office.
• The ability to converse at ease with customers and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post.