Armed Forces Covenant
As part of its commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant to improve access to social housing for the Armed Forces community, Birmingham City Council has fully adopted the government's recommendations to qualify for social housing.
Key areas include that the following applicants who are members of the Armed Forces community are exempt from local connection:
♦ Persons who are currently serving in the Regular Armed Forces or were serving in the Regular Armed Forces at any time in the five preceding years of their application, and their spouses.
♦ Bereaved spouse or civil partners of persons who are serving in the Regular Armed Forces, where the bereaved spouse or civil partner has recently ceased, or will cease, to be entitled to reside in Ministry of Defence accommodation following the death of their Service spouse or civil partner and the death was wholly or partially attributable to their service.
♦ Serving or former members of the Reserve Armed Forces who are suffering from a serious injury, illness or disability which is wholly or partially attributable to their service.
♦ Divorced or separated spouses or civil partners of Service personnel, who are required to move out of accommodation provided by the Ministry of Defence.
♦ Adult children of service personnel who are no longer able to remain in the family home due to the impact of their family moving from base-to-base.
When making an application to the housing register, a financial assessment will be made where capital and savings are taken into consideration. Any compensation for an injury or disability sustained on active service with the Armed Forces or Reserve Forces, will be disregarded when calculating financial resources.
Higher priority can also be given to those who have urgent housing needs. This includes members of the Armed and Reserve Forces, with an urgent housing need such as:
► Former members of the Regular Armed Forces
► Serving members of the Regular Armed forces 6 months prior to discharge.
► Serving members of the Armed Forces who need to move because of a serious injury, medical condition, or disability (encompassing a mental ill health condition) which is wholly or partially attributable to their service.
► Serving or former members of the Reserve Forces who need to move because of a serious injury, medical condition or disability which is wholly or partially attributable to their service.
► Bereaved spouses and civil partners of members of the Armed Forces leaving Services Family Accommodation following the death of their spouse or partner, which was wholly or partially attributable to their service.
Please note that even with higher priority, social housing in Birmingham is in short supply. It could be a while before a property becomes available. Unfortunately, the Armed Forces Covenant does not give you an immediate right to housing. However, the Council's Housing Allocation Policy aims to remove any disadvantage due to the changing nature of military life by applying parity and fairness to our procedures.
As a result of Covenant commitments and a substantial range of statutory and charitable services, there is a significant range of resources available to help veterans in need, including those related to housing and homelessness. This includes the Veterans’ Gateway.
The Gateway is a single point of contact for veterans and their families to access help and information from a network of organisations. It is made up of a consortium of Armed Forces charities, including the Royal British Legion, SSAFA, Poppy Scotland and Combat Stress. www.veteransgateway.org.uk
The Council engaged in the development of the following guide on housing need and armed forces with the West Midlands Combined Authority Homelessness Taskforce wmca-designing-out-veterans-homelessness-report.pdf.