Housing Options & Assessment Officer in Walthamstow

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: SC6/PO1 £35,520 to £43,680

Contract Type: Full-time/Permanent

Retention Bonus: Yes

Working hours per week: 36

Application Deadline: 15/05/2026

Proposed Interview Date(s): WC 01/06/2026

Reference: 2121

About Us: Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work. We are a highly ambitious borough, driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace.

About the role: This is a fantastic opportunity to make a real difference to some of the most vulnerable residents in the borough. Are you pro-active, resourceful, customer-resolution focused? Then this role might be for you. As a Housing Options & Assessment Officer, you’ll be working in a busy and often challenging environment, where you will be supporting our vulnerable residents, some of whom may have complex needs. If you join our team, you’ll be focused on preventing residents from becoming homeless, as well as providing tailored support and interventions when prevention is not an option. The successful candidate will have at least 2 years experience of working within a busy Prevention and Assessment Service, as well as being enthusiastic, resilient and self-motivated.

Key Responsibilities:

• Deliver high‑quality, collaborative assessments of housing needs and available options for residents in accordance with the Homelessness Reduction Act 2018.
• Conduct housing advice and assessment interviews, both face‑to‑face and by telephone, for residents seeking support from the council.
• Conduct enquiries to determine whether an applicant meets the five statutory homelessness tests.
• Issue statutory duty letters within required timeframes and produce robust, accurate Personal Housing Plans.
• Provide effective support to the Prevention & Assessment Team, including general administrative tasks, data entry, use of Excel, and the production of reports.
• Assist with homelessness prevention activities, including making enquiries with estate agents and landlords to confirm the cause of homelessness.
• Liaise with private landlords as needed to support investigations and housing applications, such as checking former tenancy arrears or other tenancy‑related issues.
• Support the team in promoting all available housing options, with a focus on alternatives to social housing, including private rented accommodation, room‑share opportunities, rent deposit schemes, and supported accommodation referrals.
• Complete all mandatory training and participate in ongoing learning and development activities as required.

Qualifications and Requirements:

• Minimum 2 years’ experience of having worked in a fast paced, resident focused environment to manage a varied caseload of applicants.
• Excellent knowledge and application of IT systems and software packages.
• Knowledge of frontline housing services (Desirable).
• Ability to work with minimum supervision, using problem solving skills and initiative to provide a resident focused support service.
• Excellent levels of literacy and numeracy.
• Ability to work flexibly, balancing competing priorities and meeting deadlines whilst understanding the needs, timescales and deadlines of others.
• Ability to deal diplomatically and confidentially with a wider range of stakeholders internally and externally.

Terms and conditions:

• Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;
• Satisfactory declaration of interest;
• As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English.

How to Apply: Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the ‘Apply’ button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role.

Equal Opportunity Employer: Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives:

• Promoting equality of opportunity
• Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage
• Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels.
• Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process. We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments.

Contact Information: If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Leon Irish, Housing Options and Assessment Manager, at Leon.Irish@walthamforest.gov.uk.

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.

Fraud Awareness Notice: The London Borough of Waltham Forest only advertises vacancies via our official website and approved recruitment platforms. We will never ask for payment or request sensitive personal or financial information as part of our recruitment process.