Housing Support Officer

This advert is for two full time vacancies and 1 part time vacancy of 26 hours per week. Please identify on your application which post you are interested in. This is a unique opportunity to join our established temporary accommodation and floating support team. The vacancies have arisen due to staff promotion, and we have a strong senior support team to instil experience in some new officers on the team. Successful candidates will have experience of having delivered support previously ideally in a homelessness setting, however this is not essential, housing and homelessness knowledge can be provided through training.

Applicants will need to be able to demonstrate strong organisational skills and a genuine drive to support and motivate people to support themselves. The roles are based in our temporary accommodation units across the borough; you will need to have a full driving licence and a car to facilitate travel; expenses will be covered.

The Council offer 26 days a year annual leave rising to 31 after 5 years of service; the Council have a good pension scheme with 23% employer contributions and also a flexible working policy.

You will be confident in lone working and have the ability to pull together as part of a team.

Any further questions about the positions please contact vicky.rhodes@cheshireeast.gov.uk

The successful applicants will work in a small team to deliver support to people in tenancies and temporary homelessness accommodation. To ensure that our temporary accommodation and prevention duties are delivered through a supportive structure. This will be achieved by supporting individuals and families affected by homelessness to achieve and sustain accommodation.

Principal Responsibilities

1. Provide support – Act as a support worker to a caseload of households, working with them, their other support agencies, accommodation providers and other relevant persons to enable them to settle in, to sustain and where required to promptly move on from accommodation. The households will be based in Cheshire East’s temporary accommodation, private tenancies and/ or in social housing tenancies. Supporting tenants/ residents with initial sign up, support planning, set up of bills and benefits and overcoming barriers to sustained accommodation.
2. Record keeping – Ensure that support is recorded, and reviewed, using prescribed support planning techniques; linking in with support services or signposting to appropriate agencies for specialist advice, aiming to sustain accommodation of facilitate timely and planned move on.
3. Income maximisation – Access appropriate funding/ benefits for households in service to ensure that their accommodation is sustained and maintained to a good standard.
4. Multi-agency working – Ensure there is a multi-agency approach to complex cases where the customers support needs are high.
5. Attention to detail – Ensure that the quality of support and recording of support is sound and feeds into investigations and assessments for homelessness applications and discharge of duties in accordance with current legislation.
6. Promote independence – Through support and a multi-agency approach, ensure that households are enabled to achieve independence and receive a good level of physical, emotional, social, and intellectual support. Whilst continually assessing and reviewing risks to yourself, other agencies, other people in the household.
7. Provide tailored support – Adapt to household needs and ensure that the level and frequency of support is appropriate and meets the needs of households in service.
8. Landlord/ provider negotiation – Negotiate with accommodation providers to sustain failing tenancies and work with tenants/ residents to ensure affordability of living expenses, utilities, rent, service charges and other expenditure buy maximising income and facilitating access to benefits.
9. To undertake any other duties as assigned by the Housing Options and Homechoice Manager, within the competence of the post holder and appropriate to the grade.