Housing Assessment Officer

Job Description

• Housing Assessment Officer
• Public Sector - Local Government
• Full Time - Monday to Friday, 36 hours per week
• Temporary Role - 3 months possible extension
• £22.22 per hour PAYE / £29 per hour Umbrella
• Hybrid Working - no more than 2 days per week working from home. Offices are in Putney Bridge Road and Twickenham (on a rota basis) but there is flexibility on which office you will work in and when where possible

Our client, a Local Authority based in South-West London, are seeking an individual who possesses the following:

• A detailed knowledge of housing legislation and its implications on current issues including case law, relevant Housing Acts and Homelessness Acts
• Knowledge of homelessness legislation, landlord and tenant law.
• A good knowledge of services, benefits and support available to applicants experiencing housing problems
• Experience of working within a customer service, housing or lettings service
• Experience of carrying out interviews, investigations, negotiations

Job Purpose

• To be responsible for assessing Housing Register applications according to the Councils Housing Allocations Schemes and assist residents, helping them to find suitable, alternative accommodation.
• To provide a flexible and responsive service for housing register applicants by delivering services from Richmond and Wandsworth Council offices and community based locations, ensuring comprehensive housing advice is available for customers, staff and partneragencies
• To efficently manage a personal caseload and/or alphabetical `patch of Housing applicants and work closely with your applicants to support them, ensuring a proactive problem - solving approach to applicants housing circumstances.

Duties

• To manage a caseload of applications made under the Council(s) Housing Allocation Schemes, providing accurate advice and guidance on the Housing Register process and allocations schemes. To ensure customers are kept informed of progress and the optionsavailable to them in line with service procedures and standards.

• Carry out accurate casework investigation; assessment; decision making on applications; and advising applicants of outcomes in line with legislation and policy including, obtaining medical reports, verifying information, carrying out home visits as directedand prioritising applications in accordance with agreed policy.

• To be part of a duty rota across both boroughs meeting with applicants who come in to each of the Housing Offices to discuss their housing application.

• To take the Housing Assessment Service out into the Richmond and Wandsworth communities by providing housing surgeries in the Job Centre Plus, Childrens Centres and other locations as required.

• To recognise and be proactive in identifying cases that need to be referred to other services for support and assistance and ensure they are connected with the the interventions they need.

• To provide robust decisions on applications for affordable housing, including working with vulnerable people and external organisations.

• To establish relationships with colleagues working for local social housing providers, ensuring applications are managed within local service level agreements and protocols.

• To liaise with statutory and voluntary agencies, and other council services in both Richmond and Wandsworth boroughs as necessary to manage expectations and achieve casework outcomes.

• To offer full and comprehensive advice to applicants about their prospects for rehousing in a manner which is considerate and empathetic towards the applicants perspective.

• Ensure all applicants within the offer range are made and kept offer ready including: ensuring applications are updated following new-borns; ensuring 1 bed single vulnerable homeless applicants have risk assessments and support plans in place where required;ensuring applicants have an up to date financial assessment and savings for rent in advance; keeping applicants with limited leave to remain under review to ensure they are eligible to remain on the Housing Register and be considered for social housing

• Identify and advise working applicants with an income level which may enable them to access affordable and intermediate rent properties and low-cost home ownership about the housing options that may be available to them in the Richmond and Wandsworth boroughs.

• Work with the Housing OTs to keep applications on the physical disability queue up to date and assess suitability for Physical Disability Queue properties.

• To implement the Councils Tenancy Policy regarding Flexible Fixed Term tenancies and other tenancy change requests by undertaking pre-end of tenancy reviews, with strict achievement of necessary deadlines and timescales and determining whether a new tenancyshould be granted and the terms of new tenancies. To recommend refusal to do so where appropriate and to notify the tenant with adequate reasons.

• Engage in partnership working with agencies involved with customers and liaise with appropriate Council departments across the SSA including Revenues and Benefits, Social Services, Environmental Health and Community Partnerships to ensure robust and cohesivecasework management

• To assist in the provision and drafting of replies for reports in respect of enquiries from Councillors, MPs, the Local Government Ombudsman and other agencies such as solicitors, Citizens Advice etc. as directed and according to their complexity and/orsensitivity of the subject.

• To train and induct newly appointed colleagues
• May be required to work after office hours to deal with emergencies e.g. security incidents, late bookings, sit ins (Refusal of client to leave the building).
• Attends large scale emergency responses as directed e.g. urgent temporary rehousing scenarios and/or other civil contingencies.

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