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This Remembrance Day, veteran supported housing faces a cliff edge
We need long-term sustainable funding for veteran supported housing, writes Lee Buss-Blair, director of operations and group veterans lead at Riverside
Lee Buss-Blair is director of operations – care & support at Riverside
We need long-term sustainable funding for veterans supported housing, writes Lee Buss-Blair, director of operations and group veterans lead at Riverside #UKhousingThis weekend, millions of people across the UK will observe the national two minutes’ silence to honour those who served and sacrificed. Remembrance Sunday is important for bringing people together from all walks of life to commemorate those who lost their lives in conflict.
Remembrance Sunday this year is especially significant as it marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, which claimed the lives of more than 380,000 British service members. This month also marks 30 years on from the end of hostilities in the Bosnian War in November 1995, which is personally poignant for me and for all of those who served and whose lives were touched by that conflict.
This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the lifting of the ban on LGBTQ+ people serving in the Armed Forces, and the unveiling of the memorial to LGBTQ+ service personnel, an important point in the journey of righting historic wrongs.
While we rightly reflect on all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, we also have a duty to remember our current service personnel and our veterans.
We welcome the fact that this government has launched an ambitious defence housing strategy, which will see £9bn invested over the next decade to improve almost all of the Ministry of Defence’s 47,700 homes for military families.
This government is also demonstrating its commitment to improving the lives of veterans. As well as creating higher-quality homes for existing service personnel, the development of new housing on MOD land will give additional access to good-quality housing for veterans.
While the vast majority of veterans transition from military to civilian life successfully, transitioning can be challenging for some. Some veterans struggle for a long time after completing their service, including from PTSD, physical disabilities, chronic pain or difficulties reintegrating into civilian life.
“We welcome the fact that this government has launched an ambitious Defence Housing Strategy to improve almost all of the Ministry of Defence’s 47,700 homes for military families”
The Minister for Veterans and People Louise Sandher-Jones told the House of Commons last week: “To provide an effective support network, we must ensure that the service is tailored and flexible and responds to each individual’s needs.”
Tailoring supported housing services to the individual needs of our veterans is precisely what we do through Op FORTITUDE, the centralised referral pathway for veterans who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness, and the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme. This programme funds the delivery of support in around 900 units of veteran supported housing.
In the two years between September 2023 and September 2025, Op FORTITUDE and the Reducing Veterans Homelessness programme have placed more than 1,000 veterans experiencing homelessness in new accommodation.
Everyone’s journey into and out of homelessness is particular to them. However, veterans can present with specific needs which require tailored care and support.
Some veterans find it hard to trust mainstream professionals who have no military background and may not have an awareness of the unique experiences and situations that members of the armed forces encounter.
But veterans, even those that struggle with transitioning out of the forces, have the potential to bring real value to workplaces and communities given the right support.
“Without these specialist services, veterans who self-exclude from mainstream support will have their only viable route out of homelessness taken from them”
This is why veteran-specific housing support services play an important role, helping veterans who may be phobic of mainstream services, and who therefore face a unique disadvantage, to realise their full potential.
Op FORTITUDE and the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme initially received an £8.55m package over two years to fund both the centralised referral pathway and the delivery of support in veteran supported housing, which was extended for a further nine months with the allocation of an additional £3.5m.
The Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme is due to end on 31 March 2026, and while the additional funding for a further nine months is very welcome, no funding past this date has been identified.
Without this funding, these services will be forced to close on this date, something that, given their demonstrated commitment to veterans, this government will surely want to avoid. Without these specialist services, veterans who self-exclude from mainstream support will have their only viable route out of homelessness taken from them.
For these veterans, when given the choice between mainstream support or no support at all, all too many will choose no support at all. Meanwhile, people accessing supported housing in wider society will be in a better position, as councils tend to offer three-to-five-year contracts to provide homelessness services.
The reason the Armed Forces Covenant was created in 2011 was to ensure that the armed forces community does not face disadvantage due to their service.
As it currently stands, without funding past 31 March 2026, veterans who are experiencing homelessness, but who mistrust mainstream support, will be at a severe disadvantage when it comes to having access to supported housing.
Lee Buss-Blair, director of operations and group veterans lead, Riverside
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