Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to remove the requirement for a local connection for (a) homeless veterans, (b) survivors of domestic abuse and (c) care leavers.

On the 24 September the Prime Minister announced an ambition to improve access to social housing for veterans, survivors of domestic abuse and young care leavers.

Statutory guidance recommends that local authorities exempt victims of domestic abuse and care leavers from local connection and residency tests, and we know that most local authorities already do this. We are clear that a victim of domestic abuse, a care leaver or a veteran should not be disqualified from social housing on the grounds of having no local connection.

The Department laid regulations on 27 November which will require local authorities to exempt all veterans from local connection requirements for social housing allocations.

We will bring forward similar regulations covering survivors of domestic abuse and care leavers when parliamentary time allows.