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Written question asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 21 March 2017, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 4 April 2017. It was answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative) on Tuesday, 28 March 2017 on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Housing: Veterans

Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the initiative by Cheltenham Borough Council to build homes for veterans; and whether they will encourage other local authorities to take similar action to house those who have left the armed forces.

Answer

The Government commends Cheltenham Borough Council for the steps they have taken which are in line with the Armed Forces Covenant and measures which we have put in place to ensure that serving members of the Armed Forces and veterans are given appropriate priority for social housing.

In 2012 we introduced regulations to ensure that seriously injured and disabled Service personnel and former members of the Armed Forces with urgent housing needs are always given high priority for social housing.

At the same time, we introduced regulations to ensure that serving personnel, and veterans who are within 5 years of having been discharged, do not lose their qualification rights for social housing because of the necessity to move from base to base.

Our 2012 statutory social housing allocations guidance goes further and also strongly encourages councils to take into account the needs of all serving or former Service personnel when framing their housing allocation schemes. It gives examples of how councils can do this, including setting aside a proportion of properties for former members of the Armed Forces under a local lettings policy, which is what Cheltenham Borough Council have done.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL6254
Session
2016-17
Subjects
Construction Housing Veterans
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk