# Any council to help homeless veterans

> “We will use this power to ensure that where those who have served our country seek homelessness assistance from a local authority, they will not be referred elsewhere simply because they lack a local connection, thereby allowing them to seek support wherever they present.”
>
> — Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Labour Party; Written ministerial statement, 21 October 2026

- **Status:** Promised
- **Status ladder:** Promised → In plan → Legislated → Funded → Delivering → Delivered
- **Policy area:** [Housing & environment](https://ledgergov.uk/promises/area/housing-and-environment)
- **Speaker:** [Matthew Pennycook](https://ledgergov.uk/actor/matthew-pennycook), Minister of State for Housing and Planning
- **Party:** [Labour Party](https://ledgergov.uk/actor/labour)
- **Made on:** 21 October 2026
- **Where:** Written ministerial statement
- **Cost a year:** No costing published
- **Who it affects:** UK armed forces veterans seeking homelessness help in England
- **When:** When the Social Housing Bill becomes law (date not stated)
- **Paid for by:** Not stated when it was announced
- **Quote source:** https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-10-21/HCWS401 (checked word for word at its source on 25 October 2026; Open Parliament Licence v3.0)
- **Last updated:** 25 October 2026
- **Card:** https://ledgergov.uk/promise/uk-veterans-homelessness-help-2026

## Where it stands

The minister has tabled an amendment to the Social Housing Bill giving the government a power to say when a council may not refer a homeless household to another council for lack of a local connection; this is how the government means to use it. The housing release of 20 October says the same for councils in England. No date is given. The card moves when the Bill becomes law and the power is used.

## Timeline

- 21 October 2026, Promised: The housing minister says a new power will stop councils referring homeless veterans elsewhere because they lack a local connection

## About the cost

No cost has been published.

## Sources

- [Written ministerial statement HCWS401, 21 Oct 2026: Social Housing Bill: Commons Committee Stage Amendments](https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-10-21/HCWS401)
- [Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government press release, 20 Oct 2026: Domestic abusers face eviction as survivors gain housing rights](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/domestic-abusers-face-eviction-as-survivors-gain-housing-rights)

## Checks

- Checked automatically by AI Journalist, not yet verified by an editor.
- Checked by AI Journalist (automated) on 25 October 2026.

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