Housing

Finding somewhere to live when we leave the Services is usually our highest priority.  Most of us find a home to buy or rent, but for some of us, disability or other problems can make the process difficult.  This section is aimed principally at such Veterans and provides access to organisations that aim to make a difficult process easier.

Veteran housing

When you leave the armed forces, the options for where you and your family can live include:

• renting a property
• buying a property
• housing support
• veteran housing charities
• support if you are in danger of being or have been made homeless

Information about housing is available in the Scottish housing guide for people leaving the armed forces and ex-service personnel.

You can find general advice on leaving the armed forces in the GOV.UK Service Leavers Pack.

A housing guide for people leaving the armed forces and ex-service personnel

Deciding where to live is one of the most important choices you and your family will need to make on leaving the armed forces. It is never too early to think about where you will set up home. Whether you are due to leave in a year, a couple of months or have already left, there is support out there to help you.

The information contained in the recently updated "A Scottish housing guide for people leaving the Armed Forces & ex-Service personnel"  sets out some of your housing options in Scotland and also looks at some of the questions you might have. It also gives you information about where you can go for further advice and support.  A copy of the guide is available via the link below.

A Scottish housing guide for people leaving the Armed Forces & ex-Service personnel

 

Local Authority Housing

Local Authority Housing Departments

There are 32 Local Authorities (LA) in Scotland. Each LA in Scotland runs their own housing department. If you think you may need to apply for social housing when you leave the forces get in touch with the LA as soon as possible. Below is a list of all 32 Local Authorities websites and contact telephone numbers. DO NOT LEAVE IT TO THE LAST MINUTE.

Local Authority	Phone	Website
Aberdeen City Council	01224 522000	www.aberdeencity.gov.uk
Aberdeenshire Council	0845 608 1207	www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk
Angus Council	08452 777778	www.angus.gov.uk
Argyll & Bute Council	01546 602127	www.argyll-bute.gov.uk
City of Edinburgh Council	0131 200 2000	www.edinburgh.gov.uk
City of Glasgow	0141 287 2000	www.glasgow.gov.uk
Clackmannanshire Council	01259 450 000	www.clacks.gov.uk
Comhairlenan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council)	01851 703773	www.w-isles.gov.uk
Dumfries and Galloway Council	0303 333 3000	www.dumgal.gov.uk
East Dunbartonshire Council	0845 045 4510	www.eastdunbarton.gov.uk
Dundee City Council	01382 434000	www.dundeecity.gov.uk
East Ayrshire Council	01563 576 000	www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk
East Lothian Council	01620 827 827	www.eastlothian.gov.uk
East Renfrewshire Council	0141 577 3001	www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk
Falkirk Council	01324 506 070	www.falkirk.gov.uk
Fife Council	08451 550000	www.fife.gov.uk
Highland Council	0845 129 7777	www.highland.gov.uk
Inverclyde Council	01475 717171	www.inverclyde.gov.uk
Midlothian Council	0131 270 7500	www.midlothian.gov.uk
Moray Council	01343 543451	www.moray.gov.uk
North Ayrshire Council	0845 603 0590	www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk
North Lanarkshire Council	01698 403200	www.northlan.gov.uk
Orkney Islands Council	01865 249811	www.orkney.gov.uk
Perth and Kinross Council	01738 475000	www.pkc.gov.uk
Renfrewshire Council	0141 842 5000	www.renfrewshire.gov.uk
Scottish Borders Council	01835 824000	www.scotborders.gov.uk
Shetland Islands Council	01595 693535	www.shetland.gov.uk
South Ayrshire Council	01292 612000	www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk
South Lanarkshire Council	01698 454444	www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk
Stirling Council	0845 277 7000	www.stirling.gov.uk
West Dunbartonshire Council	01389 737000	www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk
West Lothian Council	01506 775000	www.westlothian.gov.uk

Housing Options Scotland (HOS)

HOS are a charity who provide advice on Housing in Scotland to service personnel with a physical or mental disability or with a family member with a physical or mental disability.

They have now expanded their service to any service leaver, regardless or injury or no injury: Email:

militarymatters@housingoptionsscotland.org.uk

Website: www.housingoptionsscotland.org.uk

Housing Options Scotland’s Military Matters project have produced a new guide to help veterans who are moving home in Scotland.  The guide gives a full list of organisations that help veterans as well as more information around the team at Military Matters.  You can find the guide here: https://housingoptionsscotland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/MM-Supp-guide-6.pdf

Low Cost Initiative for First Time Buyers (LIFT)

LIFT (Low Cost Initiative for First Time Buyers) OMSE (Open Market Shared Equity) is a shared equity scheme funded by the Scottish Government to help first time buyers, and other priority groups – including those serving in the armed forces and veterans who have left the forces in the last two years, get onto the property ladder.

When buying through the scheme, eligible applicants can apply for funding towards the price of a property that has been advertised for sale on the open market. The Scottish Government helps buyers to purchase a property by providing funding for between 10% and 40% of the sale price and gets the same percentage back when the property is sold. There are restrictions to the size and price of property that can be bought through the scheme (see website for full details).

Link administer the scheme for the Scottish Government for the whole of Scotland. More information can be found on our website (www.linkhousing.org.uk/LIFT) or on the page we have created specifically for the armed forces www.linkhousing.org.uk/armedforces the page has a video explaining the scheme and downloadable pdfs with details of the pricing thresholds for each area. We will continue to update the information on the page so let me know if there is anything specific that you think would be useful to include. When buying through a shared equity scheme, the majority of buyers can do so with a much smaller deposit (usually around 5% - depending on the mortgage provider) so buying a property is much more accessible.

Additional advice on housing

Shelter Scotland can also provide additional information on a wide range of housing and homeless issues that you may have.  They can provide information on finding a place to live, Renting right as well as information on eviction and repossession of your house/home and how to stop it.  Follow the link below to find out more about your options:

Leaflets

Scottish Housing Regulator

The Scottish Housing Regulator collect a range of financial and performance information about each landlord and the sector as a whole. We use this to monitor and assess landlord performance against the Scottish Social Housing Charter and to decide the level of engagement we need to have with each landlord.

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