Homeless Veterans in London: Investigating Housing Responsibilities

Abstract: In advance of the seminar organised by the Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committee (London Region) and partners, we have been asked to review developments since our December 2016 report. This short updating report is in 2 parts; setting out developments in the national context; and setting out developments in individual local authorities. In relation to the latter research, which updates our 2016 report, we are pleased to note some significant improvements in information provision for veterans. Greenwich, for example, signpost advice for homeless veterans very clearly from their homelessness homepage and the veteran specific information provided by Haringey, Havering and Newham is also very good. Some improvements may be linked to the requirements of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 (discussed further below). For example, on Brent’s homepage for homelessness, there is a direct link for former members of the armed forces alongside other groups specified by the 2017 Act, with information about homelessness applications as well as other possible sources of support. Westminster also have specific information and advice and have a page entitled Information and Advice for armed forces. However, many of the public facing websites we reviewed could still be improved, and there are some local authorities who provide very limited information for veterans. Our focus for this report is to highlight examples of what we consider to be best practice in this area and to note areas in which we consider further improvements could be made.