Mary Macleod MP asks Hounslow Council to give housing priority to our ex-servicemen and women

Local MP calls for the sacrifice of our Armed Forces to be recognised in the allocation of social housing 

Mary Macleod, Member of Parliament for Brentford and Isleworth, believes that serving and ex-service personnel’s contribution to this country should be recognised in how the local authority allocates housing. Mary wrote to Hounslow Council requesting that they consider offering ex service men and women the highest priority for social housing. These individuals are usually disadvantaged because they move around the country from base to base and are on overseas tours. Current procedures in place mean that they can lose their housing qualification rights as result, which is an unfair penalty for serving the UK so bravely.

The London Borough of Barnet has recently announced plans to change their allocation policy to give preferential treatment to ex servicemen and women. Those who have lived in Barnet for six months before enlisting will be given special status which will push them up the housing waiting list. Mary believes that Hounslow should also offer such preferential treatment, which is in keeping with the special relationship that this Borough has with the Armed Forces.

The Government has recently announced a number of measures to assist Armed Forces personnel in gaining suitable housing. These include:

  • Placing members of the Armed Forces at the top of the priority list for Government funded home ownership schemes, including FirstBuy, and instructing special agents to visit military bases to promote such schemes;
  • Working with credit reference agencies and Royal Mail to standardise Forces’ Post Office addresses so personnel are not disadvantaged when applying for mortgages;
  • Consulting on plans to change the law so that former personnel with urgent housing needs are always given high priority for social housing, and personnel who move from base-to-base do not lose qualification rights;
  • Issuing statutory guidance to councils on the allocation of social housing, setting out how their allocation schemes can give priority to current or ex-service personnel, including using local preference criteria and local lettings policies;
  • Accelerating the release of surplus public land to build up to 100,000 new homes by 2015, which, subject to planning, could benefit ex-service personnel;
  • Encouraging custom built housing, so that more schemes are designed by, and for, ex-service personnel, such as an innovative scheme in Bedminster;
  • Working with specialist agencies to prevent homelessness amongst ex-service personnel, including through enhanced resettlement support for early service leavers;
  • Providing Disabled Facilities Grant funding so that home adaptations can enable disabled service personnel to live independently. DFG will rise to £185m by 2014/15;
  • Ensuring that national planning rules are sufficiently flexible to support applications from disabled ex-service personnel for homes that suit their needs;
  • Launching a £1.5 million fund to support the successful integration of retired Gurkha soldiers and their dependants, who, having served in the British Army, now wish to settle in the UK.

 

Mary said:  “I strongly believe that we should honour those who put their lives on the line for this country, by guaranteeing them housing when they leave the services. I was recently in Afghanistan visiting our troops, and I was struck by their dedication and professionalism. Other London Boroughs have managed to incorporate a system that is preferential to our Armed Forces and I hope that Hounslow Council will agree to follow suit. I am glad that the government is taking this problem so seriously and is meeting its obligations set out in the military covenant.”