Housing Options Officer in Bristol

How you’ll make a difference

As a Housing Options Officer, you will provide advice and assistance to people across South Gloucestershire who are homeless or threatened with homelessness, as well as supporting people to secure alternative housing.

What you will be doing

• Carry out assessments to determine people’s housing needs, preferences and options, and develop a plan outlining the actions required to resolve their housing issues.
• Help prevent customers from becoming homeless or assist them to secure alternative housing by assessing complex cases involving tenure rights, suitability of accommodation, financial assessment, medical needs, and eligibility for homelessness prevention schemes.
• Where there are no alternative housing solutions, assess eligibility for assistance under homeless legislation to determine whether a homelessness duty is owed and issue negative decisions or recommend the acceptance of a duty under Part VII Housing Act 1996 where appropriate.
• Maintain regular contact with housing applicants, facilitate access to relevant support services, investigate and coordinate multi‑agency approaches, and participate in multi‑agency conferences where necessary.

What we need from you

• Relevant practical housing experience and extensive knowledge of legislation, including Housing Act 1996 Part VII, landlord and tenant law.
• Experience delivering housing remedies and homelessness services, and an understanding of the needs of vulnerable people and minority groups.
• Strong communication skills and effective problem‑solving ability to address issues promptly.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and identify problems as they arise, and to address issues effectively.

What you need to know

• All applications will be initially reviewed and shortlisted candidates will be invited to complete a short psychometric assessment. Successful candidates will then be invited to an interview.
• This role is hybrid, with work at the office in Kingswood, from home, and on site visits.
• A basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is required for employment.
• You must have a full, valid driving licence with regular access to a vehicle, or an alternative means of travel, as travel throughout the authority and surrounding area is expected.

Interviews will be held week commencing 3rd August 2026.

How a career at South Gloucestershire Council is different

• As part of our benefits package, you will receive generous annual leave (pro rata), employee wellbeing support and access to a range of staff discounts, including eye tests, travel, shopping and leisure activities.
• We welcome applications from everyone and ensure that individuals are selected, promoted and developed on the basis of their merits and abilities.
• Our team has a genuine flexibility approach to help achieve that work/life balance.
• We invest in the careers of our people and are recognised for the quality, breadth and depth of our training and development offer, which helps our people make the greatest long‑term difference in their work.
• What makes this place special is the strength of the team ethos, the support and the training.