Environmental Health Officer – Private Sector Housing

Job title:  Environmental Health Officer – Private Sector Housing

Closing date:  22^nd March 2023

Salary:  £41,704 - £50,300

This exciting opportunity is to join Cornwall Councils Private Sector Housing Team in the role of Environmental Health Officer and make a real difference to the lives of privately rented tenants.  We are seeking two EHOs to either participate in the delivery of our Government funded ‘Private Rented Sector Path Finder Project’ that seeks to identify high risk, poor quality private rented accommodation, and use all available powers to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of residential occupiers, or undertake the duties of an existing member of staff in our team to enable them to join the project team.   

Longer term you may be deployed within our Houses in Multiple Occupation, Empty Homes, Complaints or Energy Efficiency teams, where you will be responsible for contributing to the delivery of the Councils statutory functions in respect of the regulation of housing standards, participating in project teams and leading on new initiatives to regulate housing standards.

The Private Sector Housing Team is responsible for delivering on a wide range of activities that aim to ensure that occupiers of private rented accommodation are able to live in a decent home free from hazards that can have a detrimental impact on health, safety and wellbeing.  In recent years the powers available to local authorities have increased with the introduction of Civil Penalty Notices, Banning Orders, the Rogue Landlords Database, Rent Repayment Orders, etc.  The Government has recently laid out its policy ‘road-map’ in the white paper ‘A Fairer Private Rented Sector’ which sets out how it intends to reform the private rented sector and address housing quality issues.   We aim to be at the forefront of implementing these reforms and you will play an important part in helping us to achieve this! 

Our work involves the licensing of 633 HMOs, responding to up to 700 housing condition complaints, serving approximately 400 enforcement notices, undertaking prosecutions and Civil Penalty action, dealing with approximately 2500 empty homes and dealing with 4500 properties that do not meet minimum energy efficiency regulations. 

Please view the role profile here, your application will need to demonstrate how you meet the required criteria. Please ensure you answer all of the pre-screening questions in full, within the application form. Guidance on how to complete your application can be found here – The application process

Please be advised that for this role we are accepting uploaded supporting statements and/or CVs to support your online application.

Cornwall is a great place to live and work, and we are committed to providing you with the training and opportunities to enable you to develop your career.  If you are interested in working for our dynamic and ambitious Private Sector Housing team then we look forward to hearing from you.  For an informal discussion about the role please contact Stuart Kenney t. 07841292304 e. stuart.kenney@cornwall.gov.uk

Fairness and inclusion are at the heart of our vision for Cornwall.  In order to best serve our communities, we are striving to achieve a diverse workforce that is inclusive of all backgrounds, cultures and identities; e.g. race, disability, sex, gender, age, religion and sexual orientation. We are an equal opportunities and Disability Confident employer, and we will assess applicants on their merits.  

Cornwall Council is committed to safeguarding and following safer recruitment principles to help make sure our staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children, young people and adults at risk. It’s a vital part of creating a safe and positive environment and making a commitment to keeping all service users safe from harm.

Whilst the location/work-base for this role has been specified our evolving ways of working means that the role may require you to also work remotely (e.g. from home/other locations). We will discuss this with you during the recruitment process. We are happy to talk about flexible working options and applications for relocation expenses will be considered.

More information about working for Cornwall Council is available here.