Homelessness Assessment Officer Job Vacancy in London, England, UK

Job title – Homelessness Assessment Officer
Location – London W6 9JT
Contract – Temporary for 3 months
Hours – Full time
Start Date : ASAP
Pay Rate: £18 p/h PAYE

Our client is looking for a Homelessness Assessment Officer for an initial 3 month period. Working as part of the housing adviser teams you will directly report to the senior housing adviser. The role is to provide excellent customer service to all residents and customers who present, apply or referred to the service. You will assess, administer and make decisions on individuals applications using the relevant guidance (Housing Act 1996, Case Law etc) to ensure the correct decision is made. It is your responsibility to ensure that legal compliance is being followed issuing notifications and decision precise and on time.
Duties would include:

• Act as first point of contact for customers approaching the council for housing assistance using all contact methods such as phone, email etc.
• Carry out interviews for housing options with all applicants who are homeless/threatened to be homeless in a person-centred focused manner. This will include carrying out assessments into the applicant’s circumstances, verifying documents etc.
• Ensuring all performance targets are met or exceeded and if not, liaising with team leaders and managers to take steps to improve performance.
• To manage caseloads of applicants through continuous assessments.
• Working in partnerships with internal and external partners.
• To recommend temporary housing to applicants where all prevention opportunities have been exhausted in line with statutory duties.
• Carrying out affordability assessments on applicants, advise on suitability for such accommodation and assist qualifying applicants with access to such accommodation.

The Ideal candidate will have:

• A detailed knowledge of the law relating to homelessness, the Code of Guidance and relevant case law, and the ability to apply this knowledge to applications for housing assistance and to the review process
• Experience of managing a varied caseload, carrying out regular reviews, making recommendations and ensuring changes in circumstances are recorded and acted on to accurately reflect the Council’s duties.
• Experience of working with a wide range of of IT systems and applications, including, databases, and able to use these to produce high quality documents.
• Experience of organising work to deadlines and targets, working with initiative and minimum supervision as required. Experience of working effectively under pressure.

Essential Skills:

• Commitment to provide excellent service to all customers, clients and residents who will use the service. Offer high standards of customer care at all times and meet corporate standards in the provision of a responsive and customer-focused service.
• Able to demonstrate strong communication skills, both in writing and verbally, understanding how messages need to be adapted to reflect the audience or recipient.

If you are interested in this position and meet the above criteria, please send your CV now for consideration.

If you require any additional information regarding the position, please call Arran at Service Care Solutions on 01772 208966 or send an email to arran.fitchie@servicecare.org.uk