Housing Options Officer

About the role:

Horsham District Council is looking for a Housing Options Officer to join our dynamic, solution-focused housing service.  We are looking for a passionate, self-motivated, enthusiastic individual to join our team with an aspiration to end rough sleeping in the Horsham District.

As a Housing Options Officer, you will be responsible for a caseload of homeless households to ensure the Council meets their statutory duty and finds solutions for those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. You will be responsible for making appropriate support referrals and identifying suitable housing pathways to prevent homelessness. You will also be required to identify any statutory homeless duties and make decisions under the Housing Act 1996 (as amended by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017). In this role you will be required to undertake triaging and assessments of those seeking housing assistance, provide advice, options, and housing solutions to homeless households and those in temporary accommodation with the aim of preventing or relieving their homelessness. The role is that of a decision maker and you will be responsible for making section 184 decisions and writing complex decision letters.

It’s an exciting time to join the Council’s Housing team as we make progressive steps towards preventing homelessness and supporting people to stay in their homes. Where households become homeless, we are pro-active in finding solutions to resolve their housing need which could be through supported accommodation, private rented accommodation and the use of the Council’s housing register to nominate to registered providers of social housing. The Housing team is well respected at the Council with recent growth approved to enable us to continue to meet the needs of the district’s residents through the cost-of-living crisis.

About you:

To succeed as a Housing Options Officer in this role you will be a dedicated individual with a passion to end rough sleeping in the Horsham District. You will be self-motivated and able to prioritise your workload with face-to-face and telephone contact with homeless applicants as well as responsibilities to meet the Council’s duty by writing in depth housing decision letters. You will be able to work successfully in a large team and have experience of working in a multi-agency environment. You will be required to participate in the out of hours homelessness rota (approx. one week in ten, for which you will receive additional payment).

We are seeking dedicated and compassionate individuals to join our team. If you have experience working with vulnerable tenants and a background in housing, we would love to hear from you. We believe in the potential of passionate individuals, and we provide comprehensive training to ensure you have the necessary skills to excel in this role. Please do not be discouraged from applying if you have not worked in housing options before, we recognise the value of transferrable skills and willingness to learn just as much as experience.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Margaret Cartmell, Housing Manager on 01403 215 110.

About us as an employer:

We have a friendly and supportive working environment and being a smaller Council, you can really get to know everybody.

We encourage and support our employees to have a healthy work life balance by, offering 28 days’ (207.2 hours) annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rata), and flexible/hybrid working options where applicable.

We offer a generous benefits package including an online platform offering discounts from online retailers and access to a car lease scheme. Staff are also eligible to join the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), where the Council contributes circa 20% of pensionable salary.

To support employees’ professional development the Council provides reimbursement for professional subscriptions and a number of training opportunities, including extensive in-house learning resources, short courses, Apprenticeships, and qualifications such as Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM), Master of Business Administration (MBA).

Visit our Jobs and careers page to find out more about Working for Horsham District Council and Our employment commitments.

To apply:

If you would like to apply for the role, we highly recommend you show clearly within the ‘Experience Section’ of the application form how you meet the essential criteria detailed within the Role Profile when applying. If you do not make this clear, it is unlikely you will be shortlisted for interview.

Internal applicants, if you would like to apply for the role, please submit an expression of interest to HR@horsham.gov.uk explaining clearly how you meet the criteria and what you feel you can bring to the role.

Repeat applications for the same role will not be considered, unless relevant changes to experience and skills can be demonstrated.