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How will exemption from the local connection test work?
The government announced it would exempt certain groups from the local connection test when they apply for social housing. Stephen Delahunty finds out what sector figures think is needed for it to work. Illustration by Pete Reynolds
The prime minister received rapturous applause when he announced at the Labour Party Conference plans to exempt all young care leavers, veterans and victims of domestic abuse from the local connection test.
Following Sir Keir Starmer’s keynote address, the government sent a letter to councils to remind them they should prioritise veterans, care leavers and domestic abuse survivors for social housing.
That was just the beginning. In a joint release, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and Ministry of Defence confirmed that “regulations will be brought forward in due course” and that the respective ministers will be hosting roundtables with the sector to explore the details of these changes.
MHCLG says: “While not mandatory, the vast majority of councils have a local connection or residency test in place to determine who can qualify for social housing. These changes will mean that where such requirements are in place, veterans are not unfairly penalised.
“Other groups who can have difficulty demonstrating a local connection – care leavers and domestic abuse victims – will also be exempt from the rule.”
So how did the announcement go down in the sector, and how will it be implemented?
Only 32 English councils do not have local connection or residence tests, so most councils will be affected. For the rest, 116 councils in England have both the local connection and residence tests, a further 115 have only a local connection test, and 45 have only a residence test.
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A local connection means a person has links to the council area because they live or have lived in the area recently, work in the area, have close family living there, or receive care leaver support in the area. In addition, a person has a local connection to a council area if they have lived there for at least six out of the past 12 months, or three out of the past five years. Living in emergency housing or a refuge also counts.
A residence test includes being a British citizen who is living and settled in the UK, aged 18 or over; a citizen of another country with the right to remain in the UK with recourse to public funds; or specific foreign nationals granted eligibility by the secretary of state.
While the announcement of the exemption for certain groups has been welcomed, the change will still add to the pressure already strained local authorities face in terms of capacity, housing and homelessness services.
In London, for example, boroughs are already forecasting a £250m overspend despite homelessness funding increasing in 2024-25.
London Councils estimates that more than 175,000 Londoners are living in temporary accommodation arranged by their local borough. This equates to one in 50 residents of the capital, which accounts for over half (56%) of England’s total number of homeless households in temporary accommodation.
Grace Williams, executive member for housing and regeneration at London Councils, says: “The government is right to highlight the challenges facing veterans, care leavers and domestic abuse victims when it comes to housing. London boroughs welcome the opportunity to work with ministers to ensure everyone has access to a safe and secure home.
“This issue is part of the wider housing crisis. In London, we are grappling with a particularly severe shortage of affordable housing and sky-rocketing homelessness rates across the board. Boroughs’ housing and homelessness services are under immense strain, with 320,000 households on social housing waiting lists in London, and it is harder than ever to support vulnerable individuals and families in need of housing.”
Refuge, a UK charity that provides specialist support for women and children experiencing domestic violence, welcomes the government announcement, which it says it had long called for. Jessica Eagelton, head of policy, public affairs and research at the charity, explains why.
She says: “Some one in four women in England and Wales will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime, some of whom will need to relocate to a new area in order to escape their perpetrator. But as the housing system continues to fail survivors, many women are being denied access to safe housing. Now, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is referring more victims to the Homeless Persons Unit than ever before.
“Refuge has found that survivors often face huge barriers when accessing housing in a new area. This is because some local authorities apply gatekeeping practices, such as local connection requirements, which require survivors to prove a local connection to the area where they are applying for social housing.”
Monitoring plan needed
However, for the policy to be effective, Refuge believes it must be backed with a comprehensive plan to monitor local authority implementation and provide survivors with recourse to a robust accountability mechanism.
The government says councils are required to submit annual monitoring data to the department on how they are delivering against their duties, under Part 4 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
In numbers
116
Councils that have both the local connection and residence tests
115
Councils that only have a local connection test
45
Councils that only have a residence test
32
Councils that do not have local connect or residence tests
Ms Eagelton says: “While the exemption will go a long way in helping survivors to access safe housing, these measures cannot mitigate the fact that there is simply not enough social housing available.
“We have found that survivors are spending more time in emergency refuge accommodation because there is nowhere for them to go.”
Care leavers are deemed to have a local connection if they have been living somewhere for two years or more by the time they leave care, but the new announcement allows all young people to stay living where they are irrespective of how long they have been living there.
However, implementing the exemption will impact different regions more than others. This is because some local authorities have more young people from other parts of the country living in their area. For example, 23% of all children’s homes are in the North West, but children in the care of local authorities in this region account for only 18% of the total number of children in care in England.
Become, the national charity for children in care and care leavers, says that targeted funding will be needed to help mitigate this.
Katharine Sacks-Jones, chief executive of Become, says: “One in five children in care are moved away from their local community, often because of a lack of options closer to home. It’s unfair when young people then leave care to make them move yet again in order to access housing support. This creates more instability and can undermine important relationships and the life they may have built elsewhere. Removing the local connection test helps put an end to this and is a good start.
“But with one in three young care leavers becoming homeless, far more needs to be done. The government must end the ‘care cliff’, prioritise social housing for young people who have left care and make sure they have support… to make a positive start to adulthood.”
Become says it is hard to know how many young people will be affected because while around 40% of young people in care are living out of an area, data is not kept on how old they were when they were moved there.
An annual official snapshot figure published for this year showed that the number of rough sleepers on a single night in autumn last year rose 27% year on year to 3,898. The government’s latest data revealed that every region in England saw a year-on-year rise. However, nearly half of the overall total was in London and the South East. Estimates have suggested that around 6% of rough sleepers in England are veterans.
Lee Buss-Blair is the director of operations and group veteran lead at Riverside, the landlord which helped deliver the government’s Op Fortitude pathway for veterans at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
He says: “Making veterans exempt from having to evidence a local connection will make a life-changing difference to many veterans experiencing homelessness.
“This is because the vast majority of local authority areas do not have specific supported housing services for veterans. So veterans experiencing homelessness will often travel significant distances to access veteran-specific support that they feel comfortable accepting.
“If a veteran has been living in supported housing for years, then they are most commonly living away from the area which they identify as home.
“It can be a number of years before they are ready to return to independent living. However, the time-limited local connection tests that local authorities have been applying have been restricting access to social housing for veterans in the areas of Britain they wish to return to and the places which veterans define as ‘home’.”
He explains that since the launch of the Op Fortitude pathway, Riverside has received more than 2,600 referrals from veterans in need in just 13 months.
Mr Buss-Blair adds: “For veterans leaving supported housing after their planned programme of support, this change in statutory guidance on the local connection test will make a big difference.
“But, in of itself, this change alone will not achieve the prime minister’s commitment to make sure that every veteran has a roof over their head without a longer-term funding commitment for veteran supported housing.”
Mr Buss-Blair highlights research that Riverside produced alongside the University of York and other partners, which identified a number of actions for the government to introduce that would help ensure that every veteran has a roof over their head.
These include reviewing chain of command discretion for immediately discharging service personnel without confirmation of stable, secure accommodation, and the welfare assessment process to make sure it is conducted for every person as they leave the Armed Forces.
‘Time, funding and partnerships’
Mr Buss-Blair believes ending veteran rough sleeping is within reach. However “it is going to take time, funding and partnerships to make it a lasting reality”.
“We are hopeful that recent announcements from this new government show that they not only care about supporting our veterans who so selflessly served our country, but they are committed to making ending veterans homelessness a top priority,” he adds.
In response to the government’s announcement, the Local Government Association says: “Most councils who apply a local connection test for social housing already exempt these groups. However, any further support for those most vulnerable in our society is a positive move.
“Across the country we are facing a significant shortage of social housing. The best way to address this is by giving councils the powers and resources to build the affordable homes their communities need. This includes reform of the Right to Buy to support one-for-one replacement of existing social housing to avoid continued net loss of stock.”
The proposals will be introduced through secondary legislation. The government has confirmed it will not change how people on social housing waiting lists are prioritised and councils will continue to prioritise within the framework legislation and local allocation policy.
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