Accommodation Placement Officer

Job Description

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: PO1 - £30,000 - £40,000 - Full Time

Retention Bonus/ Market Supplement: N/A

Contract Type: Full Time - Permanent Contract

Working hours per week: 36 hours per week

Weeks per year: 52 weeks

Application Deadline: 30.09.2025

Proposed Interview Date(s): W/C 6th October 2925

Reference: 1604

About Us:

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.

We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

About the role:

Are you passionate about making a real difference in people's lives? Do you thrive in a fast-paced environment where every day brings new challenges and opportunities? If so, we want you to join our team as an Accommodation Placement Officer.

In this vital role, you'll be be at the hear of our mission to support households in urgent need of housing. You'll be responsible for arranging and managing temporary accommodation placements for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

What you'll do

Work closely with households to ensure their needs are met quickly and appropriately.
Liaise with accommodation providers, landlords, and partners to secure suitable accommodation.

Balance the challenge of demand with available resources, finding creative solutions to tough situations.

Ensure placements are safe, compliant, and cost-effective, while keeping customer care at the heart of everything you do.

Be part of a supportive team that works together to tackle homelessness in our borough.

About You

We're looking for someone who is:

A great communicator who can build relationships under pressure.

Highly organised with an eye for detail and the ability to juggle competing priorities.

Empathetic, resilient, and committed to helping people when they need it most.

Experienced in housing, property, or a customer-focused role (although full training will be provided).

Working with us means being part of a council that cares deeply about its residents. You'll be supported by a dedicated team, have opportunities to professional development, and most importantly - you'll see the positive impact of your work every single day.

>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<

Key Responsibilities:

To arrange the allocation of all types of accommodation to homeless households. Working with the procurement team and providers to ensure that there is suitable accommodation available to meet demand. To arrange sign up and issue customers with decision letters that complies with relevant legislation and council policy and to make best use of the properties available.

Work closely with households to ensure their needs are met quickly and appropriately.
Liaise with accommodation providers, landlords, and partners to secure suitable accommodation.

Balance the challenge of demand with available resources, finding creative solutions to tough situations.

Ensure placements are safe, compliant, and cost-effective, while keeping customer care at the heart of everything you do.

Be part of a supportive team that works together to tackle homelessness in our borough.

Qualifications and Requirements:

5 GCSE’s or equivalent qualifications including Maths and English

Terms and conditions:

Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;

Satisfactory declaration of interest;

This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/ or vulnerable adults;

Satisfactory DBS check;

This post is politically restricted therefore the post holder is disqualified from undertaking certain political activities under the Local Government Officers (Political Restrictions) Regulations 1990.

As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the ‘Apply’ button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact [Contact Name, Title] at [Contact Email Address] or [Contact Phone Number].

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.

The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.

Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.