Environmental Health Officer / Housing and Health Standards Officer

Housing enforcement is changing. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 is the biggest shift in private rented sector regulation in a generation. We are looking for the right person to join our Housing Standards Team to make a real difference by improving housing conditions and protecting tenants’ rights.

We carry out a wide range of enforcement work, making sure that private homes are safe and fit to live in. The work is varied, challenging, and extremely rewarding, making a real difference to people’s lives and the homes they live in.

You may be a qualified Environmental Health Officer, with lots of experience or just starting your professional journey. For the Housing and Health Standards Officer post, you’ll be a highly experienced housing standards enforcement professional, with proven significant skills, knowledge and experience in the regulation and enforcement of this specialist housing discipline.

Our work is wide ranging including the licencing of houses in multiple occupation, an award-winning service to bring long term empty homes back into use and the enforcement of minimum energy efficiency standards. You will be able to grow into all or any of these areas of work and take on a specialist role in the licencing and regulation of Park Home sites.

Our work and challenges are constantly growing, now and into the future. We are building the capacity to respond properly, not reactively.

This is a rare chance to step into a role where your professional experience and judgement will directly shape how standards are enforced, how landlords improve, and how residents experience housing services across the county.

Why work in Housing Standards in Dorset Council

• Real influence on how the council implements its housing standards and tenants’ rights response
• Broad, end-to-end experience across enforcement, prevention and housing standards work
• Protected space to plan proactive projects, not just manage day-to-day reactive demand
• Autonomy to make professional decisions, with clear and confident support
• Varied and complex casework without the volume pressure typical of metropolitan authorities
• Hybrid working that supports focused case management as well as site-based work
• Support to build you professionally on the next stage of your career

If you want to do housing enforcement properly, with time to think, the authority to act, and backing when decisions are challenged, this is a role where you can build serious experience while making a visible difference to residents and communities across Dorset.

At Dorset Council, it's not just about the work we do, it's about how we do it. Hear directly from our employees about what makes Dorset Council special in this short video:

At Dorset Council, we are working together to create a fairer, more prosperous, and more sustainable Dorset for everyone, now and in the future.

We:

• provide essential services that support over 300,000 residents
• work in partnership to make a real difference
• value every role and the impact it has on our communities
• support our employees to grow, develop, and thrive

You will:

• be part of a team that works together for a better Dorset
• have access to a range of benefits and support
• receive training and development opportunities to help your career progress

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation where different skills, perspectives, and backgrounds strengthen both our council and the communities we serve.

We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. If you declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role, we will offer you an interview. We also want our recruitment process to be accessible, if you need any reasonable adjustments, just let us know on your application.

This role is UK-based, and we will need to confirm your Right to Work as part of the appointment process. We use generic job descriptions and person specifications, so the job title in any attachments may differ from the advert. If needed, we will provide additional details in a context statement.

If you’re passionate about making a difference, we’d love you to join us.

Find out more about how to apply.