Housing Options Officer

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. In this role you will be the main point of contact within the multi-disciplinary team for agencies working with the Horsham rough sleeping community. To identify and work with individual rough sleepers to carry out needs and risk assessments and put in place effective Personal Housing Plans. You will be responsible for making appropriate support referrals and identifying suitable housing pathways for these clients. 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).

It's an exciting time to join the Council's Housing team as we make progressive steps towards ending the need for anyone to sleep rough with a large partnership project delivering supported accommodation for single homeless households. 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.

As a Housing Options Officer you will be responsible for following the regulations in accordance with Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 (as amended by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017) 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.

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 rough sleepers 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.

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).