Temporary Accommodation Caseworker

Number of Vacancies:

2

Time Type:

Full time

Worker Type:

Regular

Proposed Interview Date:

Monday, July 20, 2026

Hours of Work:

37

Hiring Manager:

Adam Parkinson

Contact Number:

01482 612062

Job Description Summary:

This is Full Time Permanent Position x 2
ROLE AND PURPOSE
The post holder will deliver a high-quality, empathetic temporary accommodation (TA) and homelessness advice and assistance service to customers, ensuring that the customer’s experience of the service is at the heart of all they do with an emphasis on minimising the time spent in TA and that people’s ongoing housing solution is as sustainable as possible to avoid the cycle of repeat homelessness.
They will arrange TA for customers as needed and investigate their homelessness cases in accordance with the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 (HRA), ensuring that customers are given good quality advice and that their expectations are managed empathetically and that duties owed to them are identified and appropriately discharged.
They will manage the licences of those in TA and deal with any breaches or other issues accordingly, arrange the void turnarounds and furnishing of the properties which are owned by the council and liaise with other teams and service areas, supporting with the provision of TA where appropriate in response to a crisis. They will make decisions on cases/issues of a more complex nature and carry out some supervision of team activity. They will occasionally deputise in the Temporary Accommodation Team Leader’s absence.
The Housing Access Service is a multi-disciplinary service which is the front door service to access housing in the city. It provides a comprehensive housing advice and options service designed to prevent homelessness and rough sleeping, help customers find realistic and sustainable housing solutions which meet their needs from a range of options and allocate available council homes in a timely way.PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES:

1. Provides a professional, empathetic and high-quality service in response to customers approaching the service for advice and assistance which may be in person, over the phone, in writing or via IT systems. Responds to enquiries and gives advice in accordance with council policies and procedures and the Data Protection Act, which will include appropriately managing customer expectations and challenging behaviour from some customers and liaising with partners where appropriate. This will require carrying work out in a range of settings including council offices, customers’ homes or community settings. Customer base includes clients experiencing trauma, addiction and those who can be hard to engage and/or present with challenging behaviour (emotional, obstructive, verbally aggressive and hostile).
2. Investigates and identifies the individual housing needs of customers who are homeless and living in TA to determine and discharge the Council’s statutory homelessness obligations. This includes (but is not limited to) arranging TA for use at short notice and in crisis situations, holding a personal caseload to see through to conclusion, advising customers on a range of issues relating to their onward accommodation options, identifying and facilitating mitigations that will support them in TA and prevent repeat homelessness, carrying out interviews, mediation and negotiation with accommodation providers and advising the customer of their rights in respect of the Homelessness Reduction Act and the council’s Allocations Policy.
3. Manages the licences of those in TA. This includes, but is not limited to, supporting with benefit claims and raising repairs where appropriate and dealing with tenancy breaches in accordance with agreed protocols, liaising closely with Housing Management Team colleagues where required.
4. Provides a responsive and flexible service to colleagues and customers to set up and arrange emergency TA, often with little or no notice. This work may include (but is not limited to) signing customers up to TA licences and welcoming them to the property, arranging furniture packs, utilities, safety checks and décor, using a company credit card to purchase incidental items as required in accordance with agreed protocols and liaising with the council’s or external contractors as and when appropriate. This will involve driving between many different locations, citywide and at short notice on a daily basis.
5. Ensures that future accommodation solutions found for the customer are as sustainable as possible by ensuring that issues are identified, and mitigations put in place. This will include carrying out affordability assessments, arranging tenancy support in TA or their onward property, benefit maximisation advice and assistance and arranging furniture packages and providing incidental items within agreed protocols.
6. Carries out temporary accommodation property inspections as required whilst occupied and upon customers moving out, assessing the level of cleaning required, replacement of any items, levels of damage and/or stolen items and any repairs. Arranges for the remedial works to be carried out and/or purchases replacement items in accordance with agreed protocols. Follows up any damage or theft with the appropriate action in respect of the customer’s status on the Council’s housing list.
7. Maintains an expert knowledge of wider Housing Access Team priorities and issues, relevant legislation, policies, procedures and trends in order to make decisions on cases that come through the Temporary Accommodation Team. These may include (but are not limited to) making decisions where the circumstances are complex and there are risk issues or wider implications to consider, decisions around intentionality, appeals against decisions about reasonable offers and priorities being removed, taking action to evict from TA and responding to initial customer feedback.
8. Administers their workload efficiently ensuring accurate and professional information is recorded on systems as appropriate. Collates statistics where required regarding team activity to feed into performance management activity and ensures that the required information is fed back to government HCLIC (homelessness) returns.
9. Prioritises their own workload and co-ordinates that of the team appropriately by having a wider view of team and service pressures.
10. Provides advice and practical support to applicants who may be facing barriers to services due to previous behaviour or other issues, ensuring that they are provided with appropriate options and advice in order to remedy their situation, linking in with colleagues across the Housing Access Service and beyond (e.g. Housing Sustainment Officers to support them to demonstrate improved behaviour in their TA, or Mental Health Social Workers) as appropriate.
11. Carries out some straightforward supervision tasks to the Temporary Accommodation Support Officer, such as coaching or sickness return to work interviews. Occasionally deputises for the team leader in their absence.
12. Represents the team at multi-agency meetings and events as required. This may include delivering information presentations to a range of people to promote the service and improve partnership working and the management of customer expectations.
13. To promote and safeguard the welfare of children, young people and/or vulnerable adults.
14. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and associated legislation places responsibilities for health and safety on Hull City Council, as your employer and you as an employee of the council. In addition to the Councils overall duties, the post holder has personal responsibility for their own health, safety and wellbeing and that of other employees; additional and more specific responsibilities are identified in the Council’s Corporate H&S policy.

NC4715.Temporary Accommodation Caseworker.docx

Compensation Grades:

GRADES 7.

Pay Ranges:

£32,597.00 - £35,412.00

Job Classifications:

3- Not Politically Restricted - Designated As Not Politically Sensitive (Politically Restricted Posts), Essential 3B - (Travel Allowance Policy), No - (Childcare Disqualification Requirement), No - (Statutory Post)

Benefits of Working of Hull City Council:
- A competitive salary
- An excellent pension through the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
- Initially 23 days annual leave depending on length of service. You will also get eight public holidays per year, and three additional days off, one in May/August and one during the Christmas/New year period
- Career development and learning experiences from a range of training courses and learning methods
- Supportive and forward-thinking culture
- Great career development opportunities

Please ensure that you complete and submit your application by midnight prior to the closing date. Please ensure that your application demonstrates how you meet the essential criteria against the person specification as listed in the job description.

We are committed to increasing the diversity, equality, and inclusion within our workforce to represent the people we serve and build an environment in which everyone can feel like they belong. We encourage people from all backgrounds to apply.

We adopt a ‘name blind’ approach to shortlisting. Recruiting managers will not have access to personal information, including your name and contact details, until a shortlisting decision has been made. Equality monitoring information is not accessible by recruiting managers at any stage.

We reserve the right to amend the dates associated with this advert, which may include closing the advert early where required.

The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

Online searches, including social media, may be carried out as part of the recruitment process.