What's involved with this role: Interim Housing Options Advisor x 2– Homelessness Prevention Reference no: Merton 5259156 Pay Rate: £21.00 per hour PAYE Hours per week: 35 Monday – Friday, normal working hours Role Length: This opening assignment is for 2-3 months City: Morden, London Hybrid working – 3 days in the office Enhanced DBS disclosure required for this role The purpose of the role is to advise those who are threatened with homelessness in order to prevent homelessness. Assess the entitlements of single non-priority homeless people and give them statutory advice and assistance. Key Responsibilities: Prevent homelessness by promoting housing options. Determine whether applicants are owed a statutory duty under the 1996 Housing Act, Part 7 as amended. Negotiate with applicants and explain the benefits of taking up housing options in a positive way. Complete interview notes and forms correctly. Administer a case load of options cases and ensure they are progressed efficiently. Investigate homelessness applications to recommend whether a statutory duty is owed to the applicant under the supervision of the senior. Receive complaints of threatened or actual harassment, illegal eviction etc Conduct interviews and obtain the facts for referral to the senior options adviser for detailed casework which may result in the local authority bringing a prosecution officer. Be aware and understand the council’s equal opportunities policy and ensure that at all times the duties of the post are carried out in accordance with the policy. Ensure that within the scope of the job purpose the council’s aims in relation to customer service are achieved. Ensure that the corporate and departmental health and safety policies are implemented at all times and to raise any concerns regarding the or operation or any health and safety matter with the appropriate senior Manager. Qualification details and any other experience/skills relevant to the job role to help support your application (and help us to help you) – please give full details within your CV document. Skills & Experience: Minimum of 12 months recent experience in a similar role, or context and ideally within a public sector organisation. Experience of interviewing the public in a housing advice, homelessness or related field. To have a knowledge of relevant current legislation and case law, including the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, the Housing Acts of 1985, 1988, 1996 and 2004. Good understanding of the Housing Act Part 7, as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002 and the ability to assess applications under this act. Excellent communication skills, including under the Housing Act 1996, Part 7 to write and speak to landlords and to explain matters to customers. Ability to negotiate with householders. Strong IT skills including Microsoft packages or equivalent (e.g. G Suite). Please quote the Job Title & Vacancy Reference No. in your application, or we will be unable to match your CV to the role being applied for. Unless the DBS requirement stated above is for a Basic Disclosure, your DBS must be either through us or be accompanied by a subscription to the DBS updating service. Clients are generally looking for candidates who are local to, or who can commute easily to the place of work. It will help your application if your CV states, in broad terms, where you reside – there is no need for a full address. Please feel free to apply to us direct via jobstclrec.com by quoting the job reference and exact job title. If you are successful in securing this role, please note that for the entire duration of this contract, regardless of extension, you will be working at the PAYE rate that has been advertised. For absolute clarity, we only work on a PAYE basis, rather than umbrella pay terms. We do not offer Ltd/umbrella or outside IR35 rates. If you wish to understand PAYE vs Umbrella more, please let us know and we can send you some additional information for clarity. Due to the number of CVs being sent to us under current market conditions, unfortunately we cannot respond to all applications. If you have not heard from us within 3 working days, please assume that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion. We will, however, be very happy to receive future applications from you for other roles. “XR S Please note that clients invariably ask us to strip out contact details from CVs before we submit them for consideration. This is always quicker and easier to do if you send your CV to us in Word format, rather than as a PDF please