Location
London

Hours
Standard 36 hours per week, Monday to Friday

Salary
£38,070 per annum

About the Role
Southwark is a diverse borough with a high demand for housing. We have developed a service accredited with Customer Service Excellence that prevents households from becoming homeless and secures accommodation for customers needing alternative housing. As an Assistant Housing Solutions Officer, you will be developed across all areas of housing solutions including customer service, assessing cases, making legally binding housing decisions, supporting customers into supported housing, working with private sector landlords to help tenants remain in their homes or find new homes, and assisting rough sleepers to secure accommodation. You will be trained to understand and apply housing legislation and equipped with techniques to manage competing priorities.

The purpose of this role is to provide a range of customer-focused services to meet the housing and placement needs of customers threatened with homelessness or who are homeless. This includes making first-contact enquiries, interviewing customers face to face, securing accommodation, and assessing and investigating homeless approaches and applications in line with the Council’s statutory duties under the Housing Act 1996 Part 7 as amended by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.

Southwark Council is the largest local authority social landlord in London, managing 55,000 homes inhabited by 40% of Southwark’s residents. The borough is home to over 18,300 businesses including iconic London venues and social enterprises, with a young, diverse, and growing population.

We are committed to making Southwark a just and fair borough by taking positive action to tackle inequalities. Our residents and communities are our greatest asset, and our refreshed borough plan alongside the Southwark Stands Together programme underpins all our work to address racism, injustice, and inequality.

Additional Details
We want you to feel supported, challenged, and rewarded in your role. Benefits include family-friendly policies such as flexible and home working options, a competitive salary, access to the Local Government Pension Scheme, generous holiday allowance, and other permanent staff benefits including eye care scheme, Cycle to Work and Cycle Loan, season ticket loan, Oyster card pool, essential user parking permits, free swim and gym scheme, and Proud to Care Rewards.

This recruitment is for 4 fixed term positions. We encourage internal candidates who are current employees or agency workers on an active assignment to apply, and to seek agreement from their substantive line manager if considering this as a secondment opportunity.

Recruitment Timetable
Advert Closing Date: 23:59 on 15th October 2025
Interview Date: To be advised

Guaranteed Interview Scheme
As part of our commitment to inclusion, guaranteed interviews are offered to specific groups who meet the minimum requirements for the role and identify with one of the following:
- Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
- Individuals currently or previously in care
- People who consider themselves disabled or have a long-term health condition

We are passionate about diversity and committed to tackling racial inequality through our Southwark Stands Together programme. Applications from Black, Asian, and ethnic minority communities are particularly welcomed to increase representation at senior management level.

Experience
- Experience in customer service is essential.
- Experience administering placements of homeless clients is desirable.
- Experience working with partner organisations such as homelessness charities is advantageous.

About You
- Customer satisfaction is at the heart of everything you do.
- You are able to agree steps with customers on how to resolve their housing needs.
- You work effectively in partnership with key stakeholders such as Shelter and Refuge.
- You are motivated to support vulnerable individuals and contribute positively to the community.

Qualifications
- No specific qualifications are stated as mandatory, but a willingness to learn and develop knowledge of housing legislation and procedures is required.