Allocations Support Officer (Emergency & Temporary Accommodation)

Role: Allocations Support Officer (Emergency & Temporary Accommodation)

Location: Harrow Civic Centre, Forward Drive, Harrow, HA3 8NT

Employer: Pertemps Recruitment Partnership (on behalf of the London Borough of Harrow)

Contract: Temporary – 12 month assignment

Hours: 36 hours per week, Monday to Friday

Work Style: Hybrid working

Rate: £17.26 per hour PAYE

Pertemps Recruitment Partnership is seeking an organised Allocations Support Officer to join the Housing Needs Service at the London Borough of Harrow . 

The team is responsible for allocating emergency, temporary accommodation and private rented housing to homeless households, helping the Council meet its interim and final homelessness duties. 

You will provide a professional and responsive service to clients and partner organisations, supporting the day-to-day administration and coordination of emergency accommodation bookings, customer enquiries and related financial processes.

Key Responsibilities:

• Respond to housing enquiries promptly and professionally, in person, by telephone, email and in writing, recording details clearly and referring matters where further action is required.

• Coordinate emergency accommodation bookings, including recording bookings, gathering household and accessibility information, checking authorisations, completing paperwork and confirming arrangements with accommodation providers.

• Allocate suitable emergency accommodation in line with applicants’ needs, liaising with providers to check availability, arrange check-in times and coordinate the collection of keys.

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date client and property information across relevant systems, including Anite (Northgate), HPA2, spreadsheets, calendars and electronic records.

Requirements:

• Experience dealing with members of the public face to face and by telephone in a customer-focused environment.

• Experience working in an office environment with a range of administrative duties.

• Experience inputting and retrieving information using computer systems, with the ability to maintain accurate records using Microsoft Office and other systems.

• Good organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise competing demands, meet deadlines and work flexibly with minimum supervision.

• Clear written communication skills, including the ability to prepare accurate letters, emails and case notes.

• The ability to explain housing policies and deal calmly, tactfully and sensitively with customers who may be distressed or in difficult circumstances.

• Experience in the public sector, social housing, a housing association or related welfare work would be beneficial.

About us:

For almost 60 years, Pertemps Recruitment Partnership have been the market leader in providing permanent and temporary staffing solutions and we are one of the most established players within the recruitment industry. The Sunday Times has listed us as one of the Best 100 Companies to work for 14 years running. We are not a big scary faceless company, quite the opposite: we strongly believe in the personal touch with everything we do. We are proud to be accredited 'investor in people' which is reflected across our business in length of service and career progression of our employees.

London Borough of Harrow is the 12th largest London borough and one of the most culturally diverse local authorities in the UK, making it a great place to live, work and visit. Located 10 miles from the city centre and just 13 minutes to Euston from Harrow & Wealdstone station there are great transport links via the Metropolitan Line, Watford DC Line and national rail service. It is easily accessible to the M1, M25 and A406.

The personal information we have collected from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found by visiting