Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to disapply the local connection tests for veterans seeking social housing who are referred through Op Fortitude.

We introduced regulations in 2012 that prevent local authorities from applying a local connection test to disqualify serving personnel as well as those within 5 years of having left the Armed Forces. Statutory guidance is also clear that members of the regular Armed Forces, their bereaved spouses and civil partners, and seriously injured reservists, must not be disqualified for an allocation of social housing because they lack a local connection to an area.

Further statutory allocations guidance issued in June 2020 makes clear that local authorities are expected to disapply any local connection requirement from divorced or separated spouses or civil partners of Service personnel who are required to move out of accommodation provided by the Ministry of Defence.