Returning Troops Can Get Britain Building

Housing Minister Brandon Lewis has issued a call to arms to the nation’s former servicemen and women to consider new careers building the nation’s homes. Housebuilding levels are now more than double those seen in 2009 – meaning developers need more skilled workers than ever. Mr Lewis argued that men and women who have served our country in our armed forces are well-equipped with the skills that the industry needs – such as opportunities in construction, civil engineering and the built environment sector. He said that anyone looking to make a return to ‘Civvy Street’ could carve out a successful career in construction – with an industry ready and willing to take them on. Read more on the CLG website.

Local Homes for Local People

Only people with a five year local connection to Hammersmith and Fulham (HandF) will be able to apply for a council house there from April.  Last month, HandF Council also stopped issuing lifetime social housing tenancies for new applicants, in one of the biggest housing policy shake-ups in living memory. The council will also be prioritising those making a significant contribution to the community, for example ex-service personnel and foster carers. At the same time, households earning above £40,200 will be prevented from accessing the housing register and instead directed towards low-cost home-ownership options.  Read more on the HandF website.

Rough Sleepers – Parliamentary Oral Answer

Lord Rogan: My Lords, statistics show that a higher proportion of ex-service personnel are sleeping rough compared with the population as a whole. Will the Government take urgent steps to address that problem?

Baroness Hanham: My Lords, the statistics are that 4% of those people sleeping rough are from the Armed Forces. My right honourable friend Grant Shapps, when he was Minister for Housing in the previous Parliament, had already made it clear that those from the Armed Forces absolutely received top priority. We are very aware of that problem. However, as I say, the figure is as low as four in one hundred.

PCC to Investigate Daily Mail’s Homelessness Claims

The Press Complaints Commission has launched an investigation into an article on the Daily Mail website that suggested homelessness hostels are ‘packed full of immigrants’.  The PCC’s decision was a result of five complaints, one of which was from a homelessness charity boss who said that novelist and ex-army officer Allan Mallinson’s claims on the national newspaper’s website last month could lead to racial discrimination. Mr Mallinson suggested homelessness hostels were ‘full of Somalis and Poles’ and ex-servicemen were ‘turned away’.  ‘How [have we] arrived at a situation where our charities are being overwhelmed by immigrant need to the exclusion of our own, as in the case of Stephen [a homeless man featured in the blog who had been in the Royal Artillery for 17 years]?’, the article asked. The PCC confirmed it received the complaints on grounds of ‘accuracy’ and ‘discrimination’ - articles 1 and 12 of the editors’ code of practice. Forty homelessness organisations signed a letter to Daily Mail Online refuting the blog’s claims. The blog stated 25 per cent of London’s rough sleepers had a services background. Homelessness charity Broadway’s government endorsed latest statistics put this figure at 4 per cent.  Read more on Inside Housing.