NL set a kind of challenge. There hasn’t been anything interesting I could find, but there is a kind of footnote to allocations by way of a circular issued by CLG under section 169, Housing Act 1996, to honour a commitment made to members of the armed services and to give guidance on the application of s 315, Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 (which redrew the local connection boundary in respect of service personnel). Para 5 of the Circular says that service personnel who are seriously injured or disabled in action should be given a “high priority” in recognition of their service. And para 8 says that where authorities use the additional preference criterion they should add the following: “any applicant who needs to move to suitable adapted accommodation because of a serious injury, medical condition or disability which he or she, or a member of their household, has sustained as a result of service in the Armed Forces”.
Section 315 essentially creates a local connection for service personnel with the areas where they resided or were employed. Where authorities use local connection as a priority tool for Part 6, they are also reminded that serving or former members of the armed forces may have a local connection through previous residence in the district as a result of a former posting in the area while serving in the Armed Forces (para 12(b)).
There we go – I suspect this may have more impact in some areas than others.