Skip to main content

This job has expired

Housing Options Team Leader

Employer
Breckland Council
Location
Dereham, Norfolk
Salary
£33,008 - £38,510
Closing date
25 Jul 2019

View more

We are seeking someone to lead a team of Housing Options and Advice Officers providing expert advice to residents of all tenures, with a focus on homeless prevention.

About us:

At Breckland Council we recognise the value of our staff who add value to our organisation and to the services we deliver. We have embraced the Government's agenda to modernise local government and our approach has been to lead change rather than follow it. We believe that Best Value can only be achieved by developing staff to their full potential and to do this, we provide them with the relevant knowledge, equipment and authority to carry out their duties.

Our employees enjoy excellent conditions of service including a generous pension scheme and flexible working for a large percentage of our staff, as well as the possibility of 'job sharing'.

About you:

You know yourself well, understanding your own emotions and behaviour. You pay attention to the wider factors and the bigger picture that will inform the decisions you make to achieve your objectives. You are exceptionally well-organised, enabling you to juggle things to meet changing demands and find the best fit for what you need to achieve. Although you like to work within fixed guidelines you enjoy working out how things can be improved or done better. You keep going no matter how difficult things get, and use setbacks as a springboard for greater success. You are quite happy to take responsibility for your own decisions and accountabilities. You have inner composure and self-assurance, whatever the situation.

You are very aware and caring of people's feelings and this allows you to quickly establish rapport. People like dealing with you because you make things easy for them to understand and you focus on and listen to what they say. You will deal sensitively with customers who may be vulnerable and/or emotional and situations that may be challenging, demanding and stressful, but still require clear and logical decisions to be made to bring matters to an acceptable conclusion. You can regularly re-prioritise your workload to cope with unpredictable peaks in demand for the service which requires professionalism at all times.

You create the conditions for people in your team to learn and develop for themselves. You provide fair and accurate feedback to them so that they can develop. You are flexible in your approach to work and enable us to be the same.

About the role:
You will:

  • lead and be responsible for the Housing Options and Advice Service in the planning and delivery of the Councils statutory housing duties
  • actively support the Housing Options and Advice service to minimise, reduce and prevent homelessness within the district
  • lead and be responsible for the development of the Council's housing register and choice based lettings service.
  • build and maintain effective relationships with key registered providers
  • carry out reviews as necessary of homelessness decisions and housing register banding.
  • ensure the Housing Options Team provides a range of excellent, customer-focused housing advice and assistance services, including but not exclusive to housing and welfare rights and responsibilities, the range of housing options available to the client, assistance in dealing with homelessness and/or threats of homelessness, etc.
  • where homelessness is not preventable, ensure the proper assessment and issuing of decisions for applications for assistance with homelessness in accordance with relevant legislation, the Homelessness Code of Guidance and relevant case law.
  • liaise with the Council's strategic safeguarding lead
  • comply with the council's constitution and policies

If you would like an informal chat regarding this role please contact Hannah Hooks, Housing Manager by emailing hannah.hooks@breckland.gov.uk

Icon for pdf Recruitment Pack [238.58KB] (opens in a new window)

Icon for word Application Form [736.5KB] (opens in a new window)

Equal Opportunities

We are committed to being an Equal Opportunities employer, recognising the benefits of sustaining a workforce which reflects the diversity of the community we serve. We welcome applications from anyone who feels they meet the requirements of our vacancies - these are listed as essential requirements on the person specification.


Applicants should apply by emailing their completed application form to recruitment@breckland.gov.uk and can review the Recruitment Pack for more details, including the job description and person specification.

Please be aware that if you are selected for this role there will be a requirement to undertake a DBS check as part of pre-employment checks.

Sign in to create job alerts

Sign in or create an account to start creating job alerts and receive personalised job recommendations straight to your inbox.

Create alert