British troops ‘failed’ over ‘scandalous’ military homes as major changes unveiled | UK | News
Defense Secretary John Healey said British troops were being “failed” by sub-par housing as he announced further changes to improve service accommodation. A new service has been set up to run military housing, with thousands of homes to be modernised, refurbished or rebuilt over the next decade as part of a £9bn overhaul.
The Defense Housing Service is to take over management of service accommodation following years of complaints about poor quality homes. The state of military housing has contributed significantly to the detention crisis that has engulfed forces at a critical time for defense in recent years. Mr Healey, who visited recently renovated homes in west London, said there had been a “scandal” of police housing for decades.
He said: “The defense has failed those serving in their homes.
“We ask extraordinary things of those who serve, sometimes we ask them to go halfway around the world on a week’s notice, we ask them and their families to move every three years, and the least they deserve is a decent home.
“The last thing you want our forces to worry about is whether their husbands, wives and children are living in a damp, cold and leaky house; we’re putting a stop to that.”
The service will operate as a public body open to all, which Mr Healey claims will represent better value for taxpayers’ money.
Once created, it will be one of the largest publicly owned housing providers in the country.
It is part of the 10-year defense housing strategy launched on Monday, which will see £9bn invested in service accommodation and 100,000 homes built on MoD surplus land, with priority given to military families and veterans.
This follows a decision at the beginning of the year to bring 36,000 serviced family accommodation (SFA) homes back into public ownership; This saves taxpayers £600,000 a day, the Ministry of Defense said.
The Ministry of Defense has also promised an “urgent review” of single occupancy accommodation (SLA), which houses more than half of military personnel.
Mr Healey described the strategy as “the largest refurbishment of armed forces housing in more than 50 years”.
Military accommodation has been heavily criticized in recent years.
A report by the Defense Select Committee last year found two-thirds of SFA housing was “essentially no longer fit for purpose” due to maintenance issues and past underinvestment.
MPs also found that around a third of the 133,000 SLA sites were not fit for purpose.
Complaints include persistent damp and mold problems, long delays in maintenance work, outdated facilities and furniture, and poor communication from those responsible for running the accommodation.
Poor accommodation has been cited as a reason for the military’s effort to retain personnel; 40% of soldiers said it made them more likely to leave the Armed Forces.
Shadow Defense Secretary James Cartlidge said the troops were “vital” and their families were being provided with “top quality accommodation”.
He added: “We will consider Labour’s proposals carefully, but like all defense policy documents to date it is months overdue and we now need to see real ambition in practice when it comes to overhauling defense arrangements.”
