Housing Officer (Allocations and Online Services)
Salary: £29,093 - £31,586 pa (Plus Essential Car User Allowance up to £1,239 pa)
Hours per week: 37
Contract type: Permanent
Closing date: 04 Nov 2024 12:00
Interview date: 18 Nov 2024
Ref: CS1672
About the role:
Horsham District Council is looking for a Housing Officer (Allocations and Online Services) to work as part of the Housing and Community Services department specialising in Housing Applications and Allocations. You will be the face of Horsham District Council, assisting members of the public from varied and challenging circumstances with their housing situation.
As Housing Officer (Allocations and Online Services) you will be responsible for verifying online applications submitted for the Housing Register, involving meticulous work adhering to the Housing Register and Nomination Policy to establish if the customer is eligible, qualifies and is not disqualified for housing assistance. The role will involve supporting and referring clients where required, along with investigating alternative housing options such as financial assessments, to resolve the customers situation. You will be responsible for responding to the customer, answering any communication in a professional and time efficient manner, providing appropriate, confidential and impartial assistance at all times.
Within this role you will support the allocation process for permanent social housing, including completing nominations and refusals along with liaising with the Registered Housing Providers. The role will involve appointments including in person along with home visits to verify customers housing situations to ensure they are suitable and qualify for social housing.
About you:
To succeed as a Housing Officer (Allocations and Online Services), your primary focus must be for that of the customer, along with a keen attention for detail and be strictly policy lead in your work. Housing experience is not essential; however, customer service experience would be advantageous, particularly with working with customers with complex and challenging needs. You will excel in communication both written and over the telephone, along with being a competent IT user (Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook).
You will be confident in working to your own initiative, including lone working along with working collaboratively within our Housing team and with external stakeholders, such as Registered Housing Providers.
As this role is an essential car user post, a full UK car driving licence and access to a vehicle is required.
For an informal discussion about this role please call Sophie Napper, Senior Allocations Officer on 01403 215229
About us:
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).
Visit our Jobs and careers page to find out more about Working for Horsham District Council and Our employment commitments.
To apply:
If you would like to apply for the role, we highly recommend you show clearly within the ‘Experience Section’ of the application form how you meet the essential criteria detailed within the Role Profile when applying. If you do not make this clear, it is unlikely you will be shortlisted for interview.
Internal applicants, if you would like to apply for the role, please submit an expression of interest to HR@horsham.gov.uk explaining clearly how you meet the criteria and what you feel you can bring to the role.