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Morgan Hunt UK Ltd; Mid Sussex; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Mid Sussex District Council is seeking a Housing Options Manager to lead the Housing Advice and Homelessness Prevention team. The role focuses on delivering statutory housing functions with strong leadership, policy development and effective partnership working.

The post involves managing complex cases, ensuring legal compliance, and driving continuous service improvement to prevent homelessness across the district.

Qualifications

• Experience in housing options, homelessness prevention, or related welfare services.
• Leadership or line-management experience in public sector environments.
• Strong knowledge of housing policy, legislation and partnership working.

Responsibilities

• Manage and lead the Housing Options team in day-to-day operations.
• Ensure duties comply with current legal and corporate requirements in a timely manner.
• Develop and review local procedures; provide guidance on difficult cases.
• Support the Housing Options Manager and Legal Services on Judicial Reviews or s.204 appeals.
• Prevent homelessness by providing timely advice and innovative, cost-effective solutions.
• Coordinate referrals from public bodies under the Duty to Refer to prevent homelessness.
• Work with Housing Association landlords to ensure proactive referrals and interventions.
• Identify service improvements to enhance customer and staff experience.
• Investigate harassment or illegal eviction cases in liaison with legal teams and police.
• Foster partnerships with Social Services, Health, Turning Tides, Probation and Police.
• Lead on rough sleeping initiatives and the Housing First pathway.
• Maintain accurate case records and compile relevant statistics.

Job description

Housing Options Manager - Mid Sussex District Council

We are currently working with Mid Sussex District Council to recruit a Housing Options Manager to join their team on a contract basis, please see below!

1. To manage and lead your team on the day to day operational functions of the service to ensure the discharge of the Council's statutory housing functions in the areas of Housing Advice and Homelessness Prevention.

2. Ensure that all duties are carried out in compliance with current legal and corporate requirements and in a timely manner.

3. Develop and review appropriate local procedures and provide comprehensive advice and guidance to your teams on difficult and complex cases.

4. Support the Housing Options Manager and Legal Services Team with any Judicial Reviews or s.204 appeals received.

5. Seek to relieve homelessness arising wherever possible by working with people at risk of becoming homeless, ensuring that timely advice and assistance is provided on a range of complex issues, using innovative and cost-effective solutions to support a preventative approach to homelessness.

6. Respond to and deal with referrals received from public bodies in relation to those who may be threatened with homelessness under the "Duty to Refer" in a timely and effective manner in order to prevent homelessness as detailed above.

7. Work closely with Housing Association landlords to ensure "commitment to refer" is complied with, so that proactive early intervention work is undertaken, resulting in effective homelessness prevention from social housing.

8. Identify continuous service improvements to deliver an excellent customer and staff experience at all times.

9. Assist the Housing Options Officers to investigate and take all appropriate action in relation to allegations of harassment or illegal eviction in accordance with the Protection of Eviction Act 1977, liaising as necessary with tenants, landlords, the Council's legal staff, solicitors and the Police.

10. Foster effective working relationships with other agencies such as Social Services, Health Services, Turning Tides, Probation and the Police to ensure partnership working, particularly to prevent homelessness and ensure that appropriate support is secured.

11. Represent the Housing Options Team at Multi-Agency Public Protection Panels (MAPPA), Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARAC) and monthly pre release meetings.

12. To lead on rough sleeping through liaison with Turning Tides who are commissioned to conduct outreach and provide floating support.

13. To lead on the Housing First pathway by fostering effective working relationships with Turning Tides and housing association partner to ensure successful outcomes.

14. Maintain accurate case records and assist in the compilation of relevant statistics and information.

15. Acquire and maintain an up-to-date knowledge of housing options available, including the private rented market and home ownership and all forms of assistance available to resolve or prevent housing problems, at all times considering creative solutions to a client's individual needs.

16. Acquire and maintain an up-to-date knowledge of relevant legislation and case law as well as any local or national policies or initiatives and good practice. Cascade this information to staff, working with Housing Options Manager to implement any changes to policy and procedure arising from this.

17. Acquire and maintain an up-to-date working knowledge of current benefits and forthcoming benefit changes, reacting proactively to assist and manage the impact of these on clients and the Council.

19. To provide cover and assistance in other areas of the department as may be necessary from time to time to take account of staff absences and peaks and troughs in work programmes.

Performance & Training

20. Monitor the performance and capability of our staff both individually (through regular one to one and case management sessions) and as a team (through key performance indicators) to ensure prevention activities are successfully delivered and that personal housing plans and decisions are legally robust and of a consistently high standard.

21. Undertake annual and half-annual personal review and development appraisals and be responsible for planning, implementation and evaluation of their training needs in accordance with the Council's policies and procedures.

22. Monitor and manage the casework levels for your team to ensure they are equally distributed and identify and remove any issues or barriers preventing successful targets and outcomes being achieved.

23. Provide regular performance, measures and statistical information to the Housing Options Manager.

24. Identify training needs for individual staff members of your team and ensure appropriate training and advice is delivered on new legislation, IT, case law and the Council's policies and procedures.

25. To positively and creatively lead your team through organisational and legislation changes.