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1. JOB PURPOSE:

To be the face of the Council and deliver outstanding services and embed a culture of putting residents first by having responsibility for completing home visits to all temporary accommodation residents and residents applying as homeless who may be in tenanted council, housing association or privately rented homes.

1. DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES:
1. To lead on completing home visits for temporary accommodation residents and/or residents applying as homeless who may be in tenanted council, housing association or privately rented homes. This will enable the Council to capture relevant data and information related to residents that will help with the shaping of services and identify where the highest needs groups are.

2. Instigate a dynamic risk assessment of a resident's home to establish any Health and Safety concerns in the property including combustible items on the balcony and if a resident is unable to self-evacuate in an event of an emergency.

3. To establish whether the resident is occupying accommodation and whether the accommodation is suitable under the provisions of relevant legislation.

4. Mitigate the risk associated with disrepair and poor property conditions. Where there are cases of poor property conditions or possible disrepair, to refer to the relevant services and ensure that residents are provided with support and feedback on these issues.

5. Identify any repairs or maintenance issues and provide realistic timeframes on repairs response turnaround to prevent homelessness.

6. To distinguish any suspected fraudulent housing tenancy fraud, homelessness application fraud or breaches of tenancy conditions and refer to the Housing Investigation Team.

7. Promote fire safety in homes including testing fire alarms and carbon monoxide devices. Where relevant referring tenants to the Housing Fire Safety Team.

8. To identify and refer tenants and/or applicants who are vulnerable or struggling to maintain their home or who are suspected of being subjected to abuse, neglect or other safeguarding matters within their home and ensure they have appropriate support in place to address any direct welfare risks or risks to their ability to sustain their tenancy.

9. Apply working knowledge of capital works plans on the Visiting Officer's allocated patch and be able to advise residents accordingly. To also advise the Capital Works Team and Neighbourhood Resident Services Manager on suggestions for future capital works and ensure that residents' feedback is provided to this team. (If applicable).,

10. Capture and verify household information, including occupancy details, employment status and any disabilities to ensure that tenants are adequately supported.

11. Request residents to complete Equality Monitoring forms on home visits to improve profiling data which can contribute to fair Council services for residents.

12. Respond to emergency incidents whether attending on site or contacting a resident and ensure that learning is discussed with the Housing Solutions Team Leader or Accommodation Solutions Manager and implemented into day-to-day Housing Needs services.

13. Provide advice on tenancy and housing related matters and refer or signpost to relevant departments where appropriate.

14. To contribute to ongoing service improvements through participation in project group and resident participation meetings to identify good practice methods or gaps in service delivery to assist with improving services for our residents.

15. To keep residents updated on areas of interest such as upcoming homelessness prevention initiatives, estate improvements and any projects that are being worked on with the resident engagement team and other teams, i.e., digital inclusion and resident focus groups such as the Resident Reference Group.

16. Identify any complex cases which require urgent follow up work and work with the relevant teams highlight and monitor progress to obtain outputs of service delivery for residents.

17. Identify relevant support for residents and make necessary referrals to appropriate services, such as employment support, occupational therapist, Adult Social Care, Childrens Services, Environmental Health Services, Resident Engagement and Financial Inclusion.

18. To ensure that written correspondence is responded to within the given timescales and that written responses are of a high quality and are resident focused.

19. To ensure all records and actions of Home Visits are recorded accurately and are factual.

20. Provide a professional customer experience at point of contact by being empathetic, caring and putting the resident first.

21. To carry out duties and responsibilities in accordance with the Council's commitment to customer service excellence and ensure compliance with the customer care standards.

22. To ensure that duties are undertaken with due regard and compliance with the Data Protection Act and other legislation.

23. To carry out duties and responsibilities in accordance with the Council's Health and Safety Policy and relevant Health and Safety legislation.

24. To perform any other reasonable and non-recurring duties appropriate to the role of Visiting Officer.

Eden Brown Synergy is an equal opportunities employer.

Eden Brown Limited is a limited company registered in England and Wales with registered number 3643845. Our registered address is 5th floor 4 Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AR, part of nGAGE Specialist Recruitment Limited T/A nGAGE Talent. Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. This message is intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in error, please send it back to us, and immediately and permanently delete it. Do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in any attachment. We take reasonable precautions to ensure no viruses are present in this email but cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage sustained as a result of computer viruses and the recipient must ensure that the email (and attachments) are virus free.