Place and Economic Growth
Communities Directorate
Homelessness Prevention Officer
Ref: 000928
Contract: Permanent
Salary: £34,434 - £38,220 per annum (Grade 6)
Hours: 36.66 per week
Based: The Office is based at Civic Centre, West Street, Oldham, OL1 1UT
Closing Date: Monday 1st September 2025
Interview Dates: TBC.

KEY REQUIREMENTS:

• To provide a professional and effective housing options interview and homelessness investigation, taking a full application from customers and ensuring duties are carried out at the relevant stages within homelessness legislation.
• To undertake detailed casework with customers who are homeless or threatened with homelessness. This includes an assessment of legal duties owed, housing and support needs, the production of Personal Housing Plans and consideration of all suitable interventions and potential solutions to prevent homelessness.
• To write and issue all required notifications, letters of referral to other authorities where the customer’s local connection lies elsewhere and outcome letters to advise the customer of the outcome of their initial interview. This includes ‘minded to letters’ and the drafting of the statutory s184 notification letters which must be approved by a manager before being sent.

ABOUT US:

We want Oldham to have vibrant, safe neighbourhoods where people are proud to live with opportunities for healthier, more fulfilled lives; and a sustainable, thriving economy. As we look to the future, the challenges may be significant, but so are the opportunities. We’ve identified three missions with our residents and partners, focusing on what will deliver the biggest impact:
A Great Place to Live, Healthier, Happier Lives, and Green and Growing.
We’re looking for candidates who will support us to achieve our ambitions and we encourage you to download our Corporate Plan: Ready for the Future and our Oldham Plan for further information.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Please note that should a vacancy that has been released for internal or external recruitment be deemed suitable for a current employee at risk of redundancy, it can be pulled back at any point, up to the post being formally offered to a candidate who is not at risk of redundancy.
While we embrace the use of AI as an innovative tool to maximise our services at Oldham Council, we are looking for authenticity in applications we receive. We therefore ask you to think carefully if choosing to use AI when completing your application and ask that you ensure you read all instructions carefully and that your application is written by you and reflects your skills, knowledge and enthusiasm.

This role will deliver high quality, customer focused advice and support to people in Oldham who find themselves homeless or at risk of homelessness. This will include providing housing advice to people in the district and completing investigations into applications from customers who are at risk of homelessness as defined by the statutory duties under Housing Act 1996 Part VII, the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 and relevant case law.
The successful postholder will provide support to the Council in delivering its statutory homelessness duties by taking homeless applications in an effective manner and ensuring the council is legally compliant, and meeting performance targets and standards.