Housing Solutions Officer

Job description

Job responsibilities

Specific duties and responsibilities include:

Housing Advice

• Responding to the inquiries of customers, internal and external, who require free, independent advice and information on all housing-related issues, ensuring compliance with the Councils policies and procedures
• Communicating well with customers, strongly focusing on their housing concerns, the improvement of their housing conditions, the development of greater independence and the prevention of homelessness by offering timely, bespoke, good quality and consistent housing advice
• Advising customers in a timely way on all housing solutions appropriate to their personal circumstances, including improving the current housing conditions to relieve their housing need
• Providing housing costs and money management advice and appropriately signposting to specialist services individuals experiencing financial issues, debt and/or welfare rights problems
• Appropriately identifying and referring customers with tenancy sustainment issues to internal tenancy sustainment services for in-depth upstream advice and support
• Under the Councils safeguarding responsibilities, identifying and making appropriate and timely referrals to the MASH or Advice & Contact to support a customers wellbeing, safety and independence
• Maintaining and efficiently managing a demanding case load with competing demands, effectively prioritising and re-prioritising cases as necessary to ensure that customers receive attention appropriate to their needs
• Ensuring, alongside other team members, that inquiries receive a prompt response, taking part in a rota to cover telephone and digital workstreams
• Working to develop strong partnerships with colleagues and stakeholders in the local community, statutory and third sector agencies, private landlords and letting agents alike
• Working with other agencies and statutory and third sector bodies to raise awareness of the housing challenges and options for residents of Wiltshire and help implement any education or advice programmes in the community
• Attending on behalf of housing and be involved in decision making at MAPPA, MARAC, DACC, Rough Sleeper Operational Panel and CIN/safeguarding meetings to ensure we meet our statutory requirement to co-operate
• Using the councils homelessness prevention fund appropriately, effectively and in accordance with reporting requirements to relieve housing stress in particular cases
• Being aware at all times of the imbalance of power between the local authority and private individualsHousing Allocations
• Sensitively interviewing prospective housing applicants in unsuitable, insecure or unaffordable housing and advising them about the solutions available make their homes suitable, secure and affordable
• As part of holistic assessments of customers housing needs, assessing their eligibility to join the councils allocations scheme, supporting them to make the relevant application and provide the necessary supporting information and documentation for their housing need to be assessed
• Making timely and appropriate inquiries to inform housing needs assessments under the Councils Allocation Policy and Part VI Housing Act 1996, liaising as necessary with landlords, social care professionals, clinicians and other professionals and determining any tenancy sustainment issues in particular cases. These assessments are based on the whole households needs and can be complex, the statutory decisions the postholder makes on behalf of the Council being challengeable
• Discretion and interpretation of general guidance is required making and issuing decisions in relation to housing need, ensuring that customers understand the allocations schemes processes, receive support to actively participate in the scheme where necessary and understand the review process where they do not qualify to participate or with to challenge their priority
• Performing re-assessments and reviews as necessary when customers circumstances change
• Actively helping customers with urgent or emergency housing needs to access relevant housing including but not limited to adapted housing, specialist housing, supported housing and Extra Care Housing, exercising initiative and creativity in pursuing all available solutions
• Liaising with health, occupational therapy, social care, housing provider, care provider and other colleagues as necessary to achieve moves to suitable accommodation to facilitate the greatest possible independence and make the most effective use of adapted and adaptable homes in the social rented stock
• Attending professionals meetings as appropriate and taking a lead in multi-agency work for customers with complex needs and/or on the edge of services. This can include difficult conversations with customers and professionals to manage expectations of what is realistic and achievable
• Providing advice to customers to help them participate in low-cost home ownership schemes
• Continually ensuring customers understand the limits of the social rented sector to provide housing solutions and the benefits of other options
• Promoting positive outcomes for individuals that support their health, well-being and socioeconomic development Homelessness
• Sensitively interviewing households who may be homeless or threatened with homelessness and assessing them in accordance with the statutory duties laid out in the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. These assessments must be based on the whole households needs and can be extremely complex, involving a multi-disciplinary approach. It will include detailed investigations leading up to making statutory legal decisions on behalf of Wiltshire Council. Advanced knowledge of homelessness law and experience of making legal decisions is required to be able to conduct these interviews
• Assessing what duties, if any, are owed to households under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 (as amended by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017) and producing your own statutory decision letters that explain clearly and in good English how those decisions have been reached.
• Carrying out an assessment of customers needs and circumstances under s189A Housing Act 1996 (as amended) and, working alongside customers to draft a jointly owned Personalised Housing Plan which will lay out the steps both parties will undertake to secure accommodation, regularly reviewing the document to ensure it remains relevant to changing circumstances
• Discretion is required when deciding what course of action or investigation is required. You must demonstrate professional curiosity and an enquiring mind in undertaking statutory enquiries and investigations into homeless applications, including detailed casework and proactive and timely enquiries. This will require investigations of customers individual circumstances and, in certain cases, forensic analysis of financial information and other data to ascertain the facts of each case. It will involve liaising with professionals and also third parties, who may be hostile and unhelpful, carefully weighing up the information received whilst accounting for conflicting or contrary accounts. No two cases are the same and all decisions are fact specific requiring the post holder to consider lines of enquiry that will be required in each case and show creativity in those enquiries.
• Working to prevent homelessness through the provision of tailored housing advice, liaison with statutory and third sector agencies and through signposting and referrals to appropriate agencies
• To be actively involved in the care and support of homeless households by attending meetings and liaising with relevant statutory and voluntary agencies to ensure that all parties are working together for the benefit of the client. This will involve explaining a households circumstances, gathering information, seeking consensus from professionals on the best way forward and ensuring other services are fulfilling their own statutory duties towards applicants, whilst being aware of legislative housing framework. This can include difficult conversations with customers and professionals to manage expectations of what is both realistic and achievable
• Giving advice to tenants about their rights and responsibilities, how to enforce rights in dialogue with landlords and to fulfil their responsibilities and sustain their accommodation
• Proactively engaging tenants and landlords in constructive discussion where complaints are made to the Council made under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977
• Working in partnership with statutory, third sector and private organisations to ensure DLUHC
• Promoting positive outcomes for individuals that support their health, well-being and socioeconomic development Administration
• Establishing and maintaining timely, accurate and appropriate administrative and computerised records, ensuring that they are kept up to date and comply with GDPR requirements
• Compiling and maintaining accurate and appropriate records of all casework on Abritas and other IT systems and provide information and statistical data as required General
• Supporting the duties of the team during absences and the cover and preparation of a duty rota to cover the duties of the team as required by the Team Leaders and Service Manager.
• Training other members of staff commensurate with the level of the post.
• Supporting the Team Leaders and Service Manager in fulfilling the Councils statutory duties under Part VI and VII of the Housing Act 1996.
• Promoting Wiltshire Councils safeguarding agenda.
• Undertaking regular training, e-learning and professional development in line with Council and Service needs.
• Any other duties commensurate with the grade and role.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

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Desirable

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Qualifications

Essential

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Desirable

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Employer details

Employer name

Wiltshire Council

Address

County Hall

Bythesea Rd

Trowbridge

Wiltshire

BA14 8JN

Employer's website

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)