YOUR HOME
Property pinch: Social housing can be hard to come by for military families, so proper planning is essential
Looking for social housing?
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ONG gone are the days when you could expect to walk out of the Army and into a council house – there just isn’t enough social housing to go around, writes AFF Housing Specialist Cat Calder. To give you an idea, Redbridge Council in London has a waiting list of up to seven years for a threebedroom property according to its website. Rushmoor, which covers Aldershot and Farnborough, currently has 1,191 families waiting for social housing; it only allocated homes to 213 families last year – and only 37 of those were three- or fourbedroom properties. REMOVING DISADVANTAGE The Armed Forces Covenant was put in place to remove disadvantages faced by Service families compared to civilians and in housing terms www.armyandyou.co.uk
this means that councils can’t penalise you for not having a local connection – but that doesn’t mean you go to the top of the housing list. Local councils prioritise families in need and whilst they have a duty of care to put a roof over your head if you are homeless (after your 93day Notice to Vacate has run out in your quarter), this could easily be a hostel or a B&B – not ideal if you have a family. Many local councils won’t give you social housing if you have more than £16,000, so if your soldier has had a redundancy pay out or a lump sum at end of Service this may well affect you. ENOUGH DOOM AND GLOOM – WHAT ARE THE POSSIBILITIES? l Plan ahead – even if your soldier has only just joined up, it’s worth thinking about civilian housing options as
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Councils can’t penalise you for not having a local connection – but that doesn’t mean you go to the top of the housing list
soon as possible. l Do your homework – SFA is subsidised so you will always pay more to live in civvy street. Find out how much civilian housing is likely to cost and work out your finances. l Talk to the council where you want to live – even if they can’t house you they can give you advice on local options. l Talk to the people at the Joint Service Housing Advice Office – they are the gurus on civilian housing for Service families. l Think outside the box – there are options available such as private rental, housing associations, MOD referral scheme, rent to buy schemes and shared ownership to name but a few; JSHAO will be able to advise you. If you need any further information, contact me at housing@aff.org.uk or JSHAO on 01252 787574 or AWSJSHAO-Mailbox@mod.uk n winter 2014 Army&You 27