Thousands of British military personnel and their families will
have their lives improved through more than £1.5 billion of
additional funding to improve accommodation for the UK Armed
Forces.
The investment will be confirmed as part of the launch of the
Government's upcoming Strategic Defence Review (SDR), helping
renew the nation's contract with those who serve, supporting the
government's Plan for Change.
Through the upcoming SDR more than £1.5 billion of new investment
into service family accommodation will unlock rapid work to
tackle the poor state of forces housing – with investment
increasing from this year – helping to support recruitment,
retention and morale.
This will include urgent repairs and maintenance, from fixing
unreliable boilers and leaky roofs to tackling damp and mould in
service family accommodation, alongside development of new forces
housing, as part of unlocking the wider potential for housing
development on surplus MOD land.
The additional funding for accommodation means more than
£7 billion will be spent across this Parliament on service
family accommodation and new build single living accommodation to
deliver a generational renewal of Armed Forces accommodation.
This will be guided by the forthcoming Defence Housing Strategy –
which is proceeding at pace and has already seen the announcement
of a new Consumer Charter to strengthen housing standards for
forces families.
The SDR will set a path for the next decade to transform defence
and make the UK secure at home and strong abroad. It will end the
hollowing out of our Armed Forces and make defence an engine for
growth across the UK.
Defence Secretary, MP said:
“Our Armed Forces personnel make extraordinary sacrifices to
serve our country.
“For too long, many military families have lived in sub-standard
homes, but this government is taking decisive action to fix the
dire state of military accommodation and ensure that our heroes
and their loved ones live in the homes they deserve.
“We are investing and acting fast, to fix forces housing and
renew the nation's contract with those who serve and deliver on
our Plan for Change.”
The delivery of the Government's new Consumer Charter will see
immediate investment in urgent renovation of 1,000 homes in most
need of repair. The Charter will also see basic consumer rights
rapidly introduced for forces families, including essential
property information and higher move-in standards, more reliable
repairs, a named housing officer for every family, and access to
a robust complaints system – helping to deliver homes fit for our
heroes.
The record investment follows the Government's landmark deal to
bring back 36,000 military homes into public ownership, as part
of the Prime Minister's pledge to deliver home fit for heroes.
The SDR will say that the Ministry of Defence should improve the
overall standard of military accommodation, including
prioritising sites that are in most urgent need of repair. The
Terms of Reference for the Review committed to put ‘Defence
personnel…at the heart of Defence's plans.'
The announcement comes alongside another above-inflation pay rise
for the Armed Forces, announced by the Government last week. This
is the second inflation busting pay rise awarded by the
Government since last July, with last year's award representing
the biggest pay rise for Armed Forces personnel in over 20 years.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
The Consumer Charter includes the following commitments:
- A strengthened move-in standard so families can have
confidence that the home they are moving into will be ready on
time and will be clean and functional.
- Improved, clearer information for families ahead of a move,
including photographs and floor plans of all homes when a family
applies for housing.
- More reliable repairs, including an undertaking to complete
urgent repairs within a set timeline consistent with Awaab's Law,
and a new online portal for service personnel to manage repairs.
- Raising the minimum standard of forces family housing with a
new programme of works targeted at the worst homes, with up to
1,000 refurbished as a downpayment on the broader programme of
renewal to be set out in the Defence Housing Strategy.
- Better and clearer communication for families, including a
named housing officer for every service family who they can
contact for specific housing related queries.
- A new, simpler complaints process that will shorten the
process to two stages in line with industry best practice, so
that service personnel and families have a quicker resolution,
backed up by the new Armed Forces Commissioner.
- Modernising policies to allow more freedom for families to
make improvements, giving them a greater sense of pride in their
homes.
