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

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.

For an informal discussion about this role, please contact the Team Leader, Coralie Jordan on [email protected]

To help focus your Supporting Statement, candidates with the Environmental Health Officer qualification(s) should use the ‘Environmental Health Officer Job Description’ and separate ‘Context Statement’ only.

Candidates applying for the Housing and Health Standards Officer should use the "Environmental Health Officer Job Description" only to support in writing their supporting statement.

This post requires significant travel. You must have a vehicle (or transport we deem suitable) available for use as needed.

This post requires you to have access to sensitive information. It will be subject to a Basic Criminal Records Check. See our policy on the employment of ex-offenders.

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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 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.