£9bn plan to rebuild Forces homes and 100K new houses on MoD land | Politics | News
Britain’s Armed Forces will see the biggest upgrade to their housing in half a century as part of a £9bn package announced by the Government. The new plan will deliver a “generational renewal” of military accommodation, with more than 40,000 homes modernised, refurbished or rebuilt, alongside an effort to see 100,000 new civilian and military homes built on Ministry of Defense land. Speaking to the Daily Express at RAF Bassingbourn in Cambridgeshire, Veterans and People’s Minister Louise Sandher-Jones, herself a former soldier, said she had “lived in some pretty shocking accommodation” while serving.
He said serving personnel had “real concerns about the insulation, the type of heating and the power they have” and confirmed that “nine tenths of the military housing stock” would benefit from the investment. Ms Sandher-Jones added that the new funding meant the department had “got its marching orders” and that it was “great to see the work that has already started”.
However, it has been confirmed that none of the 66 homes currently being renovated on the base have received new funding, with the work instead being funded under an old scheme.
The Ministry of Defense’s new plan will be rolled out within a decade, focusing on long-overdue repairs and installing new kitchens, bathrooms and heating systems for Armed Forces families.
Defense Secretary John Healey said a decent home was the least that “British forces personnel and their families” deserved.
He said the announcement marked “a definitive break with decades of underinvestment”.
The overhaul follows years of complaints about damp, mold and poor conditions, which ministers say are damaging morale and retention.
Around 14,000 homes are said to be in line for significant refurbishment or even complete replacement as part of the scheme.
The Express was not allowed to interview families currently housed on the base.
It follows a deal that sees 36,000 family properties brought back into public ownership, which the government says will save taxpayers £600,000 a day. The government says these savings are now being reinvested into the new programme.
Excess unused land on Department of Defense land will also be used to build more than 100,000 new homes for use by both military and civilian families.
A new Defense Development Fund will also be established, with revenues from releasing land for development reinvested in future projects.
Shadow Defense Secretary James Cartlidge pointed out that the deal to buy back defense housing was made under the previous Conservative government.
He said: “I saw first-hand the poor state of military housing when I became Minister for Defense Procurement in 2023. It was clear to me that much of the property needed to be completely rebuilt as we invested £400 million in our winter plan in 2023 to address damp and mold, which had led to a sharp drop in complaints. “However, this was not possible given that the property was sold in 1996 and Governments since then – including Labor since 1997. It wasn’t until 2010 that he made a serious attempt to buy it back.
“That’s why I took the decision in Government to buy back the property in 2023 and led intensive work to engage the Treasury and get the deal under negotiation by election time.
“Now that the deal has been legally completed, we have an extraordinary opportunity to improve forces housing, and we will be scrutinizing Labor’s efforts to implement its own strategy, much of which is similar to the ‘homes for heroes’ policy I announced in June. “Given that retention in the military remains a major challenge, it is important that the Annington deal results in a truly comprehensive regeneration of defense property – our service personnel and their families deserve nothing less.’
