Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans are currently in temporary accommodation or rough sleeping; and what progress has been made against government targets to reduce this.

There are a number of measures and metrics used to capture veteran homelessness and rough sleeping, including metrics on temporary accommodation. However, it is important to note that none of these will capture every single case and with the transient nature of homelessness, the overall picture of veteran homelessness and rough sleeping is not complete.

However, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government does capture and report the number of households presenting to Local Authorities who are either experiencing or at risk of homelessness. This data includes households rough sleeping and in temporary accommodation, as well as capturing other household status. The most recent annual data release is for 2024-25 and shows that there were 2,180 veteran households at risk of or experiencing homelessness in England. This is 0.7% of all households in England and is steady with the previous year.

This Government is clear that one veteran rough sleeping is one too many. That is why we have committed an additional £12 million to ensure the continuation of the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme. Op FORTITUDE will also be extended, putting the service that has already supported over 1,000 veterans on a sustainable footing. These programmes will deliver three years of support services across the UK for veterans at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

This is in addition to the Government’s National Plan to End Homelessness. The Ministry of Defence contributed to this strategy including committing to ensuring that all councils are aware of service provision in their area to support veterans at risk of homelessness.