Housing Needs Officer

Housing Needs OfficerHaringeyJob Role To provide a high-quality service for households in housing need irrespective of tenure; emphasis on the prevention/relief of homelessness and the provision of advice and support to achieve best outcomes; engaging with customers to deliver housing services that work for them.Main ResponsibilitiesTo reduce homelessness by employing a range of behaviours aimed at building trusting and productive relationships with customers that enable officers to persuade, influence and support them to make positive choices and fully engage with realistic housing options to prevent and relieve homelessness. To carry a caseload and provide an effective, professional service which includes offering customers in housing need a full range of advice and interventions related to their housing options in the private and public sector with the aim of ensuring a comprehensive service to prevent homelessness. To provide an effective, professional homelessness service including the assessment and investigation of cases in line with the Council's statutory duties under the Housing Act 1996 (as amended) and relevant case law.Undertake affordability assessments with customers to enable appropriate advice to be given to residents about where they can afford to live, how they might maximise benefits and work in partnership with other organisations where employment would be a solution to the housing need. To provide an efficient service offer to single applicants where there may not be a statutory duty to accommodate. This should include advice to maintain their current accommodation and to identify other options in supported accommodation, private sector, refuge or other type to prevent or defer homelessness. To request the provision of temporary accommodation following robust checks into the eligibility for this.Assess and determine requests for interim accommodation pending review and appeal via the application of statutory legislation and to respond with high quality decision letters able to withstand legal challenge.