Housing Benefits Officer

Description

We're recruiting an experienced Housing Benefits Officer to join a busy Revenues and Benefits service delivering vital financial support to vulnerable residents within a local authority environment.

This role sits within a high-performing Housing Benefits team responsible for administering Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support for approximately 20,000 households. The successful candidate will manage complex assessments, support overpayment recovery processes, and ensure all work is delivered accurately, efficiently and in line with current legislation and best practice.

The Role

- Assess and process Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support claims in line with legislation, policy and performance targets

- Carry out complex financial assessments including self-employed applicants, students and vulnerable households

- Process changes in circumstances, revisions, reviews and interventions accurately and within agreed timescales

- Assess and implement Discretionary Housing Payments, backdating requests and underlying entitlement decisions

- Identify, calculate and recover overpaid benefits, supporting the council's overpayment recovery objectives

- Recommend appeals for referral to Tribunal services where appropriate

- Work proactively to minimise fraud and ensure all assessments comply with verification standards

- Liaise with internal departments including Revenues, Housing, Finance and customer service teams to ensure effective service delivery

- Work with external stakeholders including landlords and the Department for Work and Pensions

- Provide advice and guidance to residents regarding Housing Benefits, Council Tax Support and wider welfare benefits

- Handle difficult or sensitive customer interactions professionally and empathetically

- Attend home visits where required to gather or verify information

- Maintain accurate records and ensure all casework is completed in line with council policies and procedures

- Support service improvement initiatives and contribute to maintaining high performance and quality standards

- Assist with training and knowledge sharing across the team where required

Key Requirements

- Extensive current knowledge of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support legislation and procedures

- Strong practical experience assessing Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support claims within a local authority or similar back-office environment

- Experience processing complex benefit calculations and changes in circumstances

- Good understanding of overpayment recovery, appeals and fraud prevention processes

- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal

- Ability to deal effectively with vulnerable or challenging customers in a professional manner

- Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage workloads and meet performance targets

- Good IT skills including experience using housing benefits systems and Microsoft Office packages

- Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a team environment

- Understanding of data protection, verification standards and compliance requirements

- GCSE-level numeracy and literacy or equivalent experience

- Willingness to undertake home visits where required

What You Need to Do Now

If you are interested in this role and meet the criteria above, please click APPLY NOW and send us your application today.

If you do not hear from us within 48 hours of applying, your application has been unsuccessful.

Footnote

If you feel that this job matches your skills but not the rate, location or seniority, please feel free to send us your CV anyway. We constantly recruit for similar roles across all levels, UK-wide, and would be pleased to speak with you confidentially about your employment status.

Even if you're currently satisfied in your role, we welcome calls from Housing Benefits Officers, Revenues & Benefits professionals and Welfare Assessment Officers looking to make future connections. Our specialist team at Carrington West has over 100 years of combined experience in housing recruitment.

For more information, call Zubair at Carrington West on (phone number removed).

By applying for this position, you agree for Carrington West to hold and process your personal data in accordance with our Data Protection Policy. Your data will only be shared with third-party clients for roles relevant to your application. You may withdraw consent at any time by contacting us.

Ad ID: 5418243590