Fact check: New guidance for veterans’ housing came into force in December
A widely shared online post made reference to a Bill to help veterans on housing lists.
An online post claimed Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer “has sneakily revoked a bill prioritising veterans on the housing list”.
Evaluation
It is unclear what Bill the poster is referring to. There does not appear to have been any proposed law introduced to Parliament addressing veterans’ housing since the general election last year. However, in December new guidelines designed to improve veterans’ access to social housing came into force.
The facts
While there does not appear to be a Bill that meets the criteria listed in the post on X, the Government last year set out new guidance on veterans’ access to social housing.
On November 27 2025, housing minister Matthew Pennycook said he was setting out regulations that “exempt all former members of the regular armed forces from any local connection tests for social housing applied by local councils in England”.
The same day a Government statement said some councils have “local connection or residency tests” which determine who qualifies for social housing in the area.
The Government said the changes “will ensure veterans cannot be unfairly penalised where such requirements are in place, recognising the unique challenges they face in trying to build up a connection in a specific local area”.
The new regulations were set to come into force on December 18.
The regulations were published on that date and included the paragraph: “The Secretary of State strongly encourages local authorities to exempt from any local connection requirements divorced or separated spouses or civil partners of service personnel who need to move out of accommodation provided by the Ministry of Defence.”
No new Bill was needed to issue this guidance, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government confirmed to the PA news agency.
The House of Commons Library pointed towards the new guidance when asked if any recent Bills had dealt with housing for veterans.
Veterans’ charity Help for Heroes also said it was unaware of any such Bill.
PA was unable to contact the original poster of the claim. The poster did not respond to another social media user who asked what source they had used for their claim.
