Forces' sweethearts

Simon Stokes was just 17 when he was discharged from the army, having developed arthritis in his knees. He found himself not only having to rethink his career, but also without a place to live. Although the Ministry of Defence will often let married ex-servicemen retain their quarters for up to three months after they are discharged, single people must fend for themselves. Stokes was at risk of joining the legions of single ex-forces personnel who sleep on the streets. Luckily, his story turned out differently: he now has a self-catered flat in the Galleries, a scheme set up by English Churches Housing Group in Richmond, north Yorkshire, to house single ex-servicemen.

Trevor Morris is project manager at the Galleries, and spent 23 years in the army before joining English Churches Housing. He knows how stressful a sudden return to civilian life can be: "When you expect to spend a considerable amount of time in the forces, it comes as a huge shock when the gameplan goes entirely out of the window."

Stokes was fortunate, though, compared to many of those who leave the armed forces each year. There is a critical shortage of accommodation for these people – mainly young, single men, some of whom have physical or mental health problems. Many of them end up on the street – although the MoD keeps no figures. Ex-servicewomen fare rather better as they are much fewer in number and tend to have better support networks in place (see box).

Although last July's Homelessness Act made ex-servicemen a top housing priority for councils, there is still a widespread belief that they are the MoD's responsibility, and some councils are unwilling to house people who have been stationed elsewhere. Two-thirds of the Housing Aid Centres run by homelessness charity Shelter helped ex-servicemen last year.

Homelessness charity Crisis first drew attention to the problem in 1994, when it published research showing that a quarter of all single homeless people had served in the armed forces. A follow-up report by the Ex-Service Action Group, made up of ex-services charities, found that, of 2458 street homeless in London on one night in May 1997, more than one in five had a background in the armed forces. Although anecdotal evidence suggests that initiatives set up since 1994 have reduced the numbers of ex-servicemen on the streets, no one pretends that the problem has gone away.

The situation is aggravated by the fact that single ex-servicemen are often unaware of their options. Several organisations have been set up to advise them (see box, right), but it can still be hard for them to find somewhere to live. Although many associations and charities provide supported housing for elderly or disabled servicemen, there is just one dedicated organisation for everyone else: Haig Homes of Surrey. Haig has 1200 units around the UK but very limited stock for single people.

English Churches Housing has been working with ex-servicemen since 2000, when it set up SPACES, the Single Persons Accommodation Centre for the Ex-Services, with funds from the MoD. Servicemen and women stationed anywhere in the world can contact SPACES at Britain's largest garrison – Catterick in north Yorkshire – for advice. It is the brainchild of Morris, who worked in several homelessness hostels after leaving the forces and was dismayed by the huge percentage of residents who were ex-military. "I realised I'd been one of the luckier ones," he says.

Homeward bound
SPACES has made 1300 assessments since it was set up. It has found homes for half of those deemed eligible, a total of 156 in the year to the end of March. Of all the ex-servicemen assessed by SPACES, Morris estimates that three-quarters want to return to their home town. It is the remaining quarter who are most at risk of becoming homeless, because councils are often reluctant to offer them accommodation if they have no connection to an area.

And even if a serviceman does return to his home town, there is no guarantee he will find accommodation. Even though the Homelessness Act makes ex-forces personnel a priority category, the law is open to interpretation, says Morris. "Some councils will use it to their own advantage, some will use it to the advantage of the ex-serviceman. In Middlesbrough, they'll accept armed forces personnel regardless of where they're from because they have a high number of voids. But in the South-east and South-west, they have terrible problems with capacity."

How the Galleries helps
The Galleries, which was officially launched last Friday, is Morris' latest attempt to provide a stopgap for homeless single ex-servicemen. People are referred to the scheme from SPACES and can stay for up to 18 months while they find a job and a home.

Some councils use the Homelessness Act for their own advantage, some use it to help ex-servicemen

Trevor Morris, English Churches Housing group

Without this support, it can be difficult to start afresh, says Morris, as people leaving the forces are particularly susceptible to the catch-22 situation familiar to homeless people from all backgrounds: "You're employable, but if you haven't got permanent accommodation you're never going to be able to get a job – and you can't afford accommodation unless you have a job."

A £700,000 grant from the Housing Corporation paid for the conversion of an old art gallery into 13 self-contained flats with their own kitchen and bathroom. It also provides a supported housing management grant to cover the costs of residents' welfare and training. Demand has been much higher than anticipated and the Galleries is already full, with eight people on the waiting list. Each flat costs £92.90 a week to rent, mostly funded by housing benefit. Residents without work contribute some £6 a week and those with full-time jobs must pay the full amount.

Careers advice is a particularly important part of the Galleries' facilities. Many young, single ex-servicemen are discharged unexpectedly for medical reasons or because they fail to make the grade and have to find a new direction. A team of five – three full-time project managers and two part-time supported housing assistants – offer advice with jobseeking, CVs and interview coaching, and send residents on courses at local colleges to retrain for new careers.

There have already been success stories. Since it opened in November, 20 ex-servicemen have passed through. One of the first residents, who moved in at the end of November, left in mid-March to take up permanent accommodation and a driving job in nearby Middleton St George.

Dodging the cracks on Civvy Street
There are other services that aim to make servicemen aware of their rights. Armed forces charity the SSAFA Forces Help runs an advisory service from the MoD's offices in Wilton, Salisbury. Housing officer Austyn Leaverland says he spends a large proportion of his day sending out extracts of the law to ex-servicemen approaching housing providers. He works alongside the MoD's own Joint Service Housing Advice Office, which has written to local authorities to remind them of their obligations.

A London-based project, Home Base, has 21 flats for single ex-servicemen and a waiting list of 15. It refers clients to several housing associations, including Notting Hill Housing Trust and English Churches, but finds the process hindered by bureaucracy. "There's a need, but council red tape over nomination rights means housing associations aren't allowed to release enough flats to us, even though the law says authorities must help," says Nadia Al-Khudhairy, who set up and runs the scheme.

Haig Homes is starting to tackle its shortage of suitable accommodation with a development of 17 one- and two-bed flats in Woolwich, south London, and the MoD is looking to set up another scheme like SPACES and the Galleries to cover the South, perhaps based at Aldershot in Surrey.