Veterans, care leavers and domestic abuse victims will be housed, Starmer vows

The Prime Minister pledged that “homes will be there for heroes” as he vowed to “house all veterans in housing need” across England.

He also said young care leavers and victims of domestic abuse “will have the security they deserve”, as he addressed issues around current requirements to have a local connection in order to get housing support in many areas.

The changes will mean all three groups will be exempt from local connection or residency tests which most councils have in place to determine who can qualify for social housing.

Campaigners welcomed the news, but housing charity Shelter said the change “won’t address the fact that there’s just fundamentally not enough social housing available” and repeated the demand for 90,000 social rent homes to be built a year for 10 years to “clear social housing waiting lists and end homelessness for good”.

Labour said it intends to bring forward the changes through legislation in Parliament, although it did not confirm a timescale.

The Government said it is writing to councils to remind them to prioritise veterans, care leavers and domestic abuse survivors for social housing, and added that regulations will be brought forward “in due course”.

Speaking at the party conference on Tuesday, Sir Keir said: “We have started the hard yards of planning reform, because we are facing up to decisions ignored for years, and because we are introducing new planning passports that will turbo-charge housebuilding in our inner cities, we can make the very same guarantee for other people at risk of homelessness.

“Young care leavers, victims of domestic abuse. They will have the security they deserve. They will have a guaranteed roof over their head. Because Britain belongs to them.”

The Prime Minister referred to homelessness among veterans as “another injustice hiding in plain sight on our streets”.

There were 2,270 households in England owed a homelessness duty with a member that previously served in the Armed Forces in the year to March, according to Government figures.

This was up by a quarter, from 1,820 households in the year to March 2019.

Sir Keir said: “In every town and city in this country. People who were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, who put their lives on the line to protect us all, but who will not have a safe place to sleep tonight.

“We cannot stand by and let this happen anymore. And so today, I can announce that this Government will respect that service. We will repay those who served us and house all veterans in housing need. Homes will be there for heroes.”

The new Labour Government has said current rules which mean that five years after leaving the forces veterans must prove a local connection to some areas to get housing support “unfairly punish” this group.

The party said more than 80% of homeless veterans referred for housing support left the forces more than five years ago.

The Royal British Legion and Help For Heroes charities welcomed the announcement, with the latter saying the Government has “recognised, and acted on, the need for the UK’s veteran population to have more flexible access to secure social housing”.

But Help For Heroes chief executive James Needham said: “While this is a positive step, we must all be mindful that homelessness is rarely an issue that occurs in isolation, and we look forward to continuing to work with the UK Government to understand, and implement, the changes required to help all veterans and their families live well after service.”

Social housing provider Riverside Group, which runs the  Government’s Op Fortitude national helpline for homeless veterans said the need is clear, having received some 2,300 referrals in its first 13 months.

Riverside’s director of operations, Lee Buss Blair, said: “We need to see and understand more detail about how the government is proposing to help meet the long-term housing and support needs of veterans as well as the immediate needs of the veterans currently experiencing homelessness.”

Women’s Aid also welcomed the news, and said the change will “require scrutiny and robust oversight” to monitor its implementation.

Its chief executive Farah Nazeer said: “We see firsthand the devastating cost of the housing crisis on survivors, who are often forced to ‘choose’ between homelessness and housing insecurity or risking their safety by remaining with a perpetrator.”

Katherine Sacks-Jones, chief executive of the Become charity, said the change will help tackle the “care cliff” in support faced by young people when they get older.

She said: “Today’s announcement is a welcome step in addressing this and ensuring that young people leaving care have somewhere safe to live in an area that’s right for them.”