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Veterans with PTSD will be prioritised for social housing
Former servicemen and women with post-traumatic stress disorder will be given priority for social housing under new proposals from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Housing secretary James Brokenshire announced today that veterans with PTSD and other mental illnesses will be given the same priority for social housing as those with physical injuries.
The announcement follows a campaign from The Sun and Help for Heroes on the issue.
“We have a duty to ensure our heroic military personnel get the support they need when applying for a social home,” Mr Brokenshire said.
Currently, thousands of ex-service personnel suffer from PTSD. In October, The Guardian reported that 6% of veterans experience PTSD, rising to 9.4% for those deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Rates of PTSD were especially high for ex-service personnel who had served in combat, with 17.1% of former combatants experiencing PTSD compared with 5.7% for those who had worked in a support role.
Under the new proposals, social housing applicants will be asked if they have served in the Armed Forces to ensure they receive appropriate help, and council staff will receive extra training on how to support veterans. Veterans with mental illness will have priority for social housing even if they do not live in the area.
The proposals will also help ex-partners of service personnel, as they will no longer need to be a local resident to access social housing.
Currently, people who separate from their partner in the Armed Forces have to move out of military accommodation, and struggle to access social housing if they did not previously live in the area.
They may be unwilling or unable to settle in the area where their partner is stationed, especially in cases of domestic violence.
At present, there are no official statistics gathered on veteran homelessness – the Royal British Legion is campaigning to include this in the Census so the charity can provide more targeted support.
An eight-week consultation on the plans opens today.
A spokesperson for the Royal British Legion said: “The Royal British Legion welcomes any measure that seeks to ensure that those who need support are able to access it. The Armed Forces Covenant states that no member of the armed forces should be disadvantaged as a result of Service, especially the injured and the bereaved.
“Whilst there is no definitive evidence to link service life itself to homelessness, there are unique factors that veterans and their families may face finding housing. Finding suitable and secure housing on leaving service is a fundamental step in a smooth transition out of the Armed Forces, and so we welcome the steps in the consultation that go to meeting that need."
