Introduction

Councils have a statutory duty to give assistance and accommodation to certain groups of homeless people. Homeless persons officers are involved in the process of providing homeless people with temporary accommodation and developing strategies to prevent homelessness wherever possible.

Work Environment

Homeless persons officers spend some of their time travelling within their area to interview homeless people living in temporary accommodation. They spend the rest of their time working in council offices.

Hours of work are 37 per week, but flexible. Some evening and weekend work is normally required, as it may be necessary to be on-call by telephone out of working hours, on a rota basis.

Daily Activities

Homeless persons officers place homeless people in temporary accommodation. Some may have been evicted for non-payment of rent, for antisocial behaviour or simply following a disagreement with their landlord. Others may have recently arrived in the area and have nowhere to live. Homeless persons officers may be involved in a variety of different tasks when trying to house homeless people:

• finding out why they have no home and if applicable, the reason for leaving their previous accommodation;
• arranging temporary accommodation – in one of the council’s own empty properties, in a hostel or in rented accommodation in the private sector such as a bed and breakfast establishment;
• trying to find permanent accommodation by establishing the people’s likely entitlement to accommodation, using a list of criteria drawn up by the council’s housing department,
• helping people to make an application for housing.

Emergency accommodation may be difficult to find – and not of the type that the homeless person is expecting. Homeless persons officers have to be diplomatic in encouraging them to accept it or to be firm when explaining that there is no alternative. They may also have to explain that permanent accommodation may not be available for some time due to large numbers of families on the housing waiting list. Some of the homeless people that homeless persons officers deal with may have mental health, drug-related or alcohol-induced problems and exhibit challenging behaviour, which means they must communicate sensitively with them. If, out of normal working hours, they are notified (by social workers, police officers or voluntary workers) that someone has suddenly become homeless, they have to arrange temporary emergency accommodation.

Skills & Interests

Homeless persons officers need to be:

• excellent communicators skills with the ability to work with people who are in distress,
• able to help people without becoming judgmental,
• sympathetic yet fair,
• able to work on their own initiative,
• able to cope when under pressure,
• able to switch off when not at work and not take their problems home with them.

Entry Requirements

Entry requirements may vary, but often, previous experience in a housing/homelessness advice setting is desirable.

Councils may ask for a minimum of four GCSEs/S grades at C/3 or above, including English and maths, but many entrants have higher qualifications, including degrees in Housing Management, or professional housing qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Housing.

You may be able to study for N/SVQs or an Apprenticeship in Housing whilst working.

Estimated salary range

£17,600 – £26,200 per year.

Please note that salary information is a guide only and there may be local agreements in place. For further information about salaries for particular positions, please contact your local council directly.

Future prospects & opportunities

There may be opportunities to move into a more general housing related role. You may also be able to progress to housing manager. You could also move into work such as benefits or employment advice, or hostel management.

Related Occupations

Follow this link to view a list of all related occuptions in Building Your Community.
Alternatively, follow this link to view all career profiles placed in the same job area.

Further Information & Services

Chartered Institute of Housing www.cih.org

Asset Skills www.assetskills.org

Academy for Sustainable Communities www.ascskills.org.uk

You may find further information about this area of work in your local Connexions service/careers office/school careers library – under BC or AC.

What should I do next?

Look for current local government Homeless Persons Officer vacancies in the following places:

• LGjobs.com - the official recruitment website for local government.
• Weekly, bi-weekly or monthly jobs bulletins produced by local councils themselves, available from libraries, community centres, town halls/main civic buildings and central council personnel departments.
• Local council websites.
• Local newspapers
• National newspapers – The Guardian is particularly well known for its public sector job advertisements on a Wednesday.

Find out about the council and get some work experience if possible by:

• Making the most of work experience placements arranged through your school, college or university.
• Contacting councils close to your home to find out about the work experience opportunities they offer.
• Talking to someone who does the job you are interested in – ring your local council to see if someone can spare some time.
• Making an appointment to see a careers adviser for more specific information about jobs and training.