Homelessness Prevention/Relief Prevention & Relief Officer

What's involved with this role:
Temporary Homelessness Prevention/Relief Prevention &Relief Officer
Reference no: Brent 5244361
Pay rate: £19.95 per hour PAYE
Hours per week: 36 Monday – Friday, normal working hours
This opening assignment is for 3-4 months
City: WEMBLEY, London
The purpose of this role is to deliver intense specialised support to families who are in housing need. The primary function is to prevent homelessness by helping customers to retain their current accommodation and where this cannot be achieved, present a range of housing options to resolve their homelessness. Work closely with supported accommodation providers, private sector landlords, Single Homelessness Prevention Service (SHPS), statutory and voluntary agencies. To agree Personalised Housing Plans (PHPs) with people who are threatened with homelessness or homeless under the terms of the Homeless Reduction Act and to investigate and issue decisions on applications made under current homelessness legislation. This is a front-line role which will include face to face assessment with single clients facing homelessness.
Key responsibilities:
Interview all applicants that approach the Council for housing assistance, to determine what actions can be taken to resolve their housing need.
Manage caseloads, carry out necessary investigation work, issue duty letters, Personal Housing Plans and formal decisions letters in compliance with current homelessness legislation.
Understand complex or multiple needs as well as strengths of applicants and build a culture of trust and motivation to help clients progress through their Personal Housing Plans.
Organise and manage a caseload identifying priorities and deadlines ensuring that systematic progress is made on each case in line with performance targets.
Create individual Personal Housing Plans (PHPs) for everyone in housing need to sustain existing accommodation and/or find new housing, taking account of their personal circumstances and keep the plan under review.
Work creatively and use knowledge, skills and information to help prevent homelessness through negotiation, advice or assistance, either preventing the loss of accommodation or securing alternative accommodation suited to the needs of the applicant.
Conduct home visits in and out of the borough if required.
Maintain detailed working knowledge of homeless legislation, other relevant areas of law, Government guidance and keeping abreast of relevant case law. Maintain up to date knowledge of housing options available to applicants.
Deal effectively with correspondence from customers and their advocates, MP’s, housing providers, statutory and voluntary agencies etc. This may involve preparing information to support court cases or panel hearings.
Attend court where necessary and appropriate to support tenants with a defence against claims by their landlords.
NB: Please feel free to apply to us direct via jobs@tclrec.com by quoting the job reference and job title exactly.
To help speed up the process of uploading your CV to the client we would suggest that you send us your CV in Word format (or equivalent) if possible, rather than as a PDF
If you are successful in securing this role, please note that for the entire duration of this contract, regardless of extension you will be working this role at the PAYE rate that has been advertised. For absolute clarity, we only work on a PAYE basis, rather than entertaining umbrella pay terms, we do not offer Ltd/umbrella or outside IR35 rates. If you wish to understand PAYE vs Umbrella more, please let us know and we can send you some additional information for clarity.
Please quote the Job Title & Vacancy Reference No. in your application, or we will be unable to match your CV to the role being applied for.
Other “Essential Requirements” – Please check to ensure that your CV addresses the following items:
Qualifications:
Degree qualified or equivalent experience.
Education to a high standard of literacy and numeracy.
Experience:
Experience of giving advice and information to vulnerable customers and working in a busy front line customer focused environment.
Strong and effective experience in provision of exceptional customer services.
Experience of working with households experiencing a housing crisis and the provision of advice and assistance covering a range of aspects of that crisis.
Experience of application of the Suitability Assessment in recommending potential pathways for applicants.
Experience of negotiation/advocacy/mediation.
Knowledge:
Knowledge and an interest in the supply and demand issues related to public sector and private housing in an inner London borough.
Knowledge of available tools and options to prevent and relieve homelessness.
Knowledge and a keen interest in legislation such as the housing act 1985, housing act 1996 as amended by homelessness act 2002, the homelessness reduction act 2017, housing needs issues, related legislation and case law. An understanding of potential pathways for single individuals with varying levels of need.
A good understating of issues affecting affordability of housing including knowledge of welfare benefits.
A good working knowledge of housing benefit rules and of the supply and demand issues related to public sector and private housing in an inner London council.
Skills & Abilities:
Ability to achieve targets and methodically respond to changing demands and priorities.
Ability to organise own workload and prioritise competing demands.
Ability to deal with difficult customers and maintain positive working relations and guide towards sustainable outcomes.
Commitment to motivating and empowering people to succeed and providing excellent customer service.
Ability to communicate well, in writing and in person.
Ability to maintain high levels of motivation and demonstrate flexibility when things don’t go according to plan.
Strong IT skills including Microsoft packages or equivalent (e.g. G Suite) including use of word processing, spreadsheets, databases and e-communication.
***Qualification details and any other experience/skills relevant to the job role to help support your application (and help us to help you!) – please give full details within your CV document.
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Job Ref: Brent 5244361
Anticipated Length of Assignment: Unless otherwise stated (we do carry the occasional permanent vacancy) all of our roles are technically temporary, though opening assignments can be and often are, extended by clients on a longer term basis and can sometimes become permanent.
Please do try to resist contacting us with requests for progress updates.
We really do read every CV sent to us. All applications will be acknowledged by a human, not a robot, provided the job remains live and provided your CV meets the “Essential Requirements” listed.
Please note that we do our level best to take down ads as soon as roles have been filled. We are not in the business of harvesting CVs.
Important: We will interpret your application as being permission to submit your CV to this role (with the right to represent you) unless you advise us to the contrary.