How to quickly assess whether a homeless veteran is in priority need and identify when a local authority has a duty to provide emergency accommodation.
Published March 2025.
This content applies to England.
Urgent support for homeless veterans
The Royal British Legion’s Urgent Support Team work with veterans in crisis, including those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The team aims to respond to all referrals within four hours, so they need to quickly find out what homelessness duties the local authority might have. This includes assessing whether there is reason to believe that someone is in priority need.
Amy Johnstone and Kate Calunniato from RBL spoke to Shelter about the key steps to follow when helping homeless veterans in an emergency and making quick assessments on priority need.
Check what duties the council owe
When a homeless person approaches a council, the council must make inquiries where it has reason to believe that a person may be homeless or threatened with homelessness.
The local authority must accept a homeless application when someone is homeless or threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance.
The relief duty applies if they are already homeless, and the prevention duty if they are threatened with homelessness within 56 days.
Find out more about the prevention and relief duties on Shelter Legal.
Check if someone is homeless or eligible
Use Shelter's quick checker tool to confirm if someone is homeless.
Then, use our tool to confirm if they are eligible for homeless help.
Why priority need matters
Priority need is one of the key tests a local authority must consider when assessing a homeless application.
It's crucial for advisers to assess priority need quickly, explains Amy Johnstone from RBL. 'We have to grasp the issue of priority need quickly to know what we need to do - knowing the council's duties means we can guide people in their next steps.'
Priority need can be automatic if certain criteria are met, or due to vulnerability caused by other factors. For single homeless veterans, priority need can be the biggest barrier to getting urgent housing help from the council.
Emergency accommodation
A local authority must offer emergency accommodation when they have a reason to believe that a person is:
homeless
eligible for assistance
in priority need
Longer term homeless help
Priority need is also one of the five tests a local authority applies to determine what longer term duty it owes towards a homeless person.
When an authority decides that no main housing duty is owed as the person is not in priority need, it must issue a section 184 decision letter with its reasoning. A homeless applicant has the right to a review of this decision.
Check for automatic priority need
Some people are automatically in priority need. A person has automatic priority need if they:
have dependent children living with them, or are pregnant
are homeless because they are a victim of domestic abuse
are 16 or 17 years old and are not looked after by social services
are 18, 19 or 20 years old and spent time in care while between 16 and 18
lost their accommodation because of an emergency such as a flood, fire or other disaster
If any one of these criteria apply to someone who is eligible and homeless, the council must provide emergency accommodation straight away.
Check priority need due to vulnerability
Some people are not automatically in priority need, but are in priority need because they are more vulnerable due to factors such as:
time spent in the armed forces
mental health conditions or disabilities
old age
time spent in prison
time spent time in care if they are over 21
having left their accommodation due to violence or threats of violence
For single adults, often the only way they might be in priority need is if the local authority considers them to be vulnerable.
The local authority needs to consider the effect that a factor has on them, not just whether one applies.
People need to be prepared to share personal information so that support services can understand their needs and rights, Amy says. 'We know it can be difficult for people to open up, but we always encourage it, as it's crucial to understanding what help they can get.'
Time spent in the armed forces
The council should consider time spent in the armed forces when assessing whether someone is vulnerable.
Factors such as injury, illness or disability should be taken into account by the council, including any mental health issues related to service. The amount of time spent in the armed forces might be relevant. For instance if they were in the forces for a long time and have only recently left, or they have never lived independently.
Health conditions or disabilities
The council's homeless team should take into account any physical health issues, mental health conditions or disabilities. Medical records or details of the support someone is receiving can help to provide evidence.
But Kate Calunniato from RBL explains 'sometimes veterans might need support but it's not actually in place, either because they didn't get the help they needed in the past, or they might have never actually reached out.' In this situation, it might help to take detailed notes about the impact of the problem and to encourage the person to engage with medical or support services straight away.
Combination of factors
Someone might be in priority need due to a combination of factors which make them vulnerable, rather than just one. For example, a health condition, combined with time spent in the armed forces.
Make sure the council take into account all relevant factors, and check everything that might apply.
What to ask about vulnerability
It's normally necessary to ask some personal questions to understand whether someone might be vulnerable.
When were they in the armed forces? What impact did it have on them?
Ask for information about their service. How long were they in the forces and when did they leave? Is there any reason they might be more vulnerable due to their time in service?
Do they have any health conditions or disabilities?
If so, how do these problems affect their everyday life? Do they take any medication, or need any regular medical care or support? It can help to obtain medical evidence if available
How old are they?
If they are older, are there any factors which might make them vulnerable, such as mobility problems?
Have they ever been in prison, or in care?
How long for and how long ago was it? What impact did this have on them?
Have they had to leave their home because of violence?
Have they left accommodation because of violence or threats of violence likely to be carried out? If they have experienced domestic abuse where they currently live, this means they are in automatic priority need
Advising on vulnerability and priority need
Read more about priority need of vulnerable people on Shelter Legal.
For more advice and practical tips, use Shelter's guide to advising on vulnerability and priority need.
Advocating to the local authority
The next step to help someone access emergency accommodation is to contact the local authority. Search for the local authority's homelessness team details online. Where emergency accommodation is required urgently, it's best to call. Send the notification by email so that there is a written record.
Make a note of any key facts, such as the names and dates of birth of the person and their household, including any children, or the details of any health conditions or disabilities. Ensure the local authority has this information so it's all taken into consideration.
If it's the evening or the weekend, search for the local authority's out of hours service. The person dealing with out of hours queries might not be from the housing team. They must take details and ensure the query is picked up if it's an emergency.
Reason to believe
When someone presents to the local authority as homeless, the authority should quickly make an assessment whether an interim accommodation duty is owed.
A local authority only needs to have reason to believe that a person may be eligible, homeless and in priority need to provide emergency accommodation. This means that the local authority does not have to be satisfied or complete full inquiries at this stage.
Amy from RBL explains, 'we sometimes need to reiterate that the council only need to have reason to believe for the emergency accommodation duty to be triggered'. Reason to believe is a low threshold of proof, as explained in paragraph 15.5 of the Homelessness Code of Guidance.
Contacting the local authority
Use the gov.uk Find your local council tool to check the right local authority details.
Use one of our template letters to send to the local authority by email or post.
What happens if the authority refuses
Sometimes a local authority will consider the information given to them but conclude that there is no reason to believe that someone is in priority need.
Refer for help with judicial review
If the local authority refuses to provide interim accommodation, the only legal challenge to this is by judicial review.
A judicial review is a challenge in the High Court. A homeless person who is financially eligible for legal aid can get help from a solicitor to apply. The solicitor must consider whether an application is likely to succeed before taking it on.
When to refer for judicial review
Check if the person is financially eligible for legal aid. Use gov.uk's checker to get a quick answer.
Then, read up on when to refer a homelessness case for judicial review.
When the local authority issues a decision letter
A local authority might issue a decision that someone is not in priority need and that they are not owed the main housing duty. This decision comes later in the homeless application process than the decision whether to offer interim accommodation.
A homeless applicant has the right to a review of a section 184 decision letter. A review must be requested within 21 days of the decision date.
Find out more about the internal review process on Shelter Legal.
Other housing options
Sometimes there aren't grounds to challenge a council's decision, but there are other options to find accommodation.
Op Fortitude
A veteran might be able to get support with urgent accommodation via Op Fortitude. Op Fortitude is a government support pathway for ex-service people experiencing homelessness. Kate from RBL explains 'Op Fortitude can help people to navigate and complete referrals to housing schemes for veterans.'
Find out more via gov.uk about Op Fortitude.
Applying for social housing
A veteran could apply to join the housing register whether they are in priority need or not. Finding housing through the housing register can take a long time, but it's still worth registering.
Each council has rules on who can join the register based on how long they have lived there, but veterans and serving members of the armed forces are exempt from these requirements.
The council's allocations policy should give additional preference to certain former members of the armed forces. Check the policy to see what it says about priority for veterans.
Find out more about social housing allocations for veterans on Shelter Legal.