We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant and Armed Forces Covenant Duty by providing the following Housing and Housing Allowance Support:

• Establishing an Armed Forces Champion within the Housing Team who will be responsible for ensuring that processes and documentation is regularly reviewed and will support colleagues to appropriate service provision to the Armed Forces Community.
• Ensuring a smooth customer journey for the Armed Forces Community by having accessible information available, which is up to date and encourages early communication with the Council.
• Ensuring special criteria are applied for certain serving and former members of the regular Armed Forces, in relation to the additional preference on Home Choice Plus.
• Ensuring that the Armed Forces Community are aware of the advice and support available to them through the local Veterans Contact Point and where appropriate signposting to this service.
• Maintaining the disregard of War Widows Pensions and elements of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme when calculating housing benefit and Council Tax claims.

Armed Forces & Homelessness

If you're leaving the Armed Forces, or you are a former member, or are part of the Armed Forces Community, you may be entitled to extra help if you become homeless.

There are special considerations for certain serving and former members of the regular armed forces. This means that you may qualify for additional priority on our Housing Register, Home Choice Plus , via the Community Contribution award. This is in line with the Armed Forces Covenant Duty. The details of what tis means can be found within the Home Choice Plus Allocation Scheme

What Happens When I Approach?

If you are eligible for assistance, the Council will assess whether you are homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days. Within the assessment of your circumstances, the Council will determine if there is a legal duty to provide you with interim / temporary accommodation or not. If the Council accepts a duty to either prevent or relieve your homelessness, you will be invited to complete a Full Housing Assessment where you will work together with a Housing Advisor to make a Personalised Housing Plan. This plan will outline the reasonable steps that both you and the Council will take to help resolve your situation.

During your assessment with a Housing Advisor, you will be asked about your current or former Service. Being a member of the Armed Forces Community does not mean you automatically have a priority need. The Housing Advisor will want to know:

• Your Service Number.
• When you joined and when you left.
• What role you had.
• If you spent any time in a military hospital.
• If you were released from Service on medical grounds (and have a Medical History Release Form).
• What you have done and where you have lived since leaving the Service.

To help support your application, you may need to provide medical evidence from the Ministry of Defence including a Medical History Release Form (if you were given one). You may need to seek independent legal advice or help from a specialist agency to make representations on your behalf if you are unable to provide the above information.

You do not need to evidence a connection to the district or borough you are applying to if you are a member of the Armed Forces Community, which includes:

• Members of the regular forces and the reserve forces.
• Members of British overseas territory forces who are subject to Service law.
• Former members of any of Her Majesty's Forces who are ordinarily resident in the UK.
• Relevant family members of those above.

Applying as Homeless Before Discharge from the Service

Contact the Council's Homeless Team if you think you will be homeless after discharge from the Service. We can provide you with advice prior to you becoming homeless.

If you are living in Service accommodation and you are due to leave the Service, the Ministry of Defence will issue you with a Certificate of Cessation of Entitlement to Occupy Service Accommodation 6 months before you are discharged. If you have received this, please present this to the Council to review so we can work with you to prevent you from becoming homeless.

In the event that you have not sought any housing assistance from the Council prior to your discharge from the Service, you may need to stay in your accommodation as long as possible and wait for Defence Estates to evict you. Defence Estates have to give you a Notice to Vacate before they can take you to Court in order for them to obtain a Possession Order. You can use any Notice to Vacate or Possession Order that is obtained against you as evidence in support of your homeless application.

Interim / Temporary Accommodation

For the Council to be legally obliged to provide you with interim / temporary accommodation, we must be satisfied that there is reason to believe you may be homeless, eligible for assistance and that you have a priority need.

For further information or advice about your homelessness, please contact the Homelessness Team:

• Telephone: 01789 260 126
• Email: homeless@stratford-dc.gov.uk

For further information about the Housing Register, Home Choice Plus, please contact the Housing Advice Team:

• Telephone: 01789 260 861
• Email: housingadviceteam@stratford-dc.gov.uk