Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to help ensure that armed forces veterans have access to housing at the end of active service.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) works closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure that veterans have access to housing when they leave their Service. However, the MOD does not have primary responsibility for housing veterans.

MOD recognises that many Service personnel seek stability for their families and a key part of this is helping personnel buy their own home. Since its introduction, the MOD’s Forces Help to Buy scheme has helped around 21,000 Service personnel purchase their own property. We have also amended our policies to help Services leavers transition to civilian life by allowing them to remain in Service Family Accommodation for up to a year after departure.

MOD assists Service personnel and their dependants wishing to move to civilian accommodation at any time in their career, including during resettlement, through its Joint Service Housing Advice Office which acts as a tri-service focal point for civilian housing information.

New statutory guidance to improve access to social housing for members of the Armed Forces, veterans and their families was published in June 2020. This guides local authorities in ensuring that housing applications from this group are identified, considered and prioritised appropriately, and that they are not disadvantaged as a result of the circumstances of their Service.

As part of the Homelessness Reduction Act’s Duty to Refer, which came into force in October 2018, the Secretary of State for Defence and other public named authorities are required to refer consenting members of the Regular Armed Forces in England, to a local housing authority within 56 days, if they believe they may be homeless or threatened with homelessness.

Service personnel can also be provided with a certificate of cessation six months before they leave the Armed Forces demonstrating when their entitlement to Service accommodation ends. This can be considered by local authorities as evidence of impending homelessness and will allow them to conduct an assessment of individual housing needs.