03/09/2026
Where are the highest rates of veteran homelessness applications being recorded in England?
As part of my wider work collating and analysing data on the veteran population, I’ve been looking at what local authorities themselves are recording around veteran housing and homelessness.
Using information supplied directly by local authorities through Freedom of Information requests, these are the highest rates among English councils that provided usable data for 2025/26:
📍 Exeter — 17.3 per 1,000 veterans
📍 Worcester — 16.9 per 1,000
📍 Melton — 14.1 per 1,000
📍 Halton — 11.6 per 1,000
📍 Blaby — 11.5 per 1,000
📍 Manchester — 11.4 per 1,000
📍 Tunbridge Wells — 11.3 per 1,000
📍 South Holland — 10.6 per 1,000
📍 Bracknell Forest — 10.6 per 1,000
📍 Telford and Wrekin — 10.0 per 1,000
The rates compare veteran homelessness applications reported by councils in 2025/26 with the veteran population recorded in the 2021 Census.
I’ve excluded areas with very small veteran populations, where only a handful of cases can significantly distort the rate.
There are limitations. Not every local authority supplied usable data, and councils don’t all identify and record veteran status in the same way.
But that raises a much bigger question:
How can we properly understand veteran homelessness if we aren’t consistently identifying veterans in the first place?
I’m keen to collaborate with local authorities, charities, researchers and others working with the Armed Forces community.
If you hold relevant data, are researching this area, or would like to compare what is happening locally with the wider picture, I’d be interested to hear from you.
Office for Veterans' Affairs Calvin Bailey MBE MP for Leyton and Wanstead Royal British Legion
