Edinburgh council agrees review to improve veterans' access to housing
Lib Dems call successfully for look at how to strengthen existing parnerships
Councillors in Edinburgh have ordered a review to improve veterans’ access to housing in the city.
Scottish Government figures published earlier this year showed that 759 out of 34,067 households assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness included a former member of the armed forces.
Veterans are often said to be particularly vulnerable to homelessness as they make the transition out of the services and into civilian life.
Lib Dem councillor Pauline Flannery successfully tabled a motion for a review to strengthen existing partnerships and improve military veterans’ access to housing.
She said while charities including Veterans Housing Scotland and Scottish Veterans Residences already did great work, if a veteran did not self-identify on the initial council housing register application, it could debar them from nominated specialist housing.
Although the council recognised military service as local housing tenure credit on the EdIndex housing register, it expired after three years from the date of discharge, meaning veterans whose physical or psychological health deteriorated many years after leaving the forces often found they had lost that advantage.
And the council’s housing services do not currently have to proactively ask applicants if they have an armed forces history.
Cllr Flannery said: “UK Armed Forces personnel have given so much to protect the country. It’s only right that we strengthen the Armed Forces Covenant where we can and ensure they have fair access to housing.”
Fellow Lib Dem councillor Louise Young said: “When looking at Edinburgh’s housing emergency, it’s easy to view our veterans as a small part of an overwhelming backlog. But they’re not just falling into homelessness, they’re crashing into its sharpest edge, entering into a system where single person accommodation is under the greatest demand.
“Fifteen per cent of all veterans who apply as homeless have actively slept rough in the three months prior to their application. That means one in every seven veterans seeking our help has already spent nights out in the shadows of our city, which is a rate 50 per cent higher than our civilian population.
“Over 58 per cent of homeless veterans present with urgent, identified vulnerabilities, with over a third battling severe mental health challenges. These are the invisible scars of service.
“Right now, a single person faces a wait of nearly a year in temporary accommodation and for a veteran a year in limbo is a lifetime. By establishing dedicated, allocated housing we’e not queue-jumping, we’re creating a targeted compassionate safety net to catch a highly vulnerable cohort before they hit the streets. Those who signed up to protect our homes must never be left without one of their own.”
Labour housing convener Tim Pogson said he supported Cllr Flannery’s motion. “This is a very important subject. I recognise the specific circumstances around individuals who have had an armed services past in terms of moving from an institutionalised setting into civilian life and making that adjustment, including housing which is absolutely essential. And many will have experience trauma as part of their professional and personal commitment.”