- New homes for Armed Forces families and veterans as Labour
develops surplus MoD land for housing.
- ‘Forces First' proposals form part of upcoming Defence
Housing Strategy to renew military housing after years of Tory
failure.
- Follows Labour's historic deal to buy back 36,000 military
family homes.
The Labour government will deliver new homeownership
opportunities for Armed Forces' families and veterans as part of
a drive to boost housebuilding on Ministry of Defence land.
, Labour's
Defence Secretary, will announce the new ‘Forces First' approach
in a speech to Labour Party conference on Monday.
The move will see a presumption for Armed Forces personnel and
veterans to receive priority access through ‘first dibs' on
new homes built on surplus MoD land. It will also see high
quality new Service Family Accommodation (SFA) for serving
personnel to rent, as Labour works to ‘stop the rot' of poor
military housing and turn around years of falling military morale
under the Tories.
The measures would apply to a proportion of new homes on selected
sites, agreed between MoD, the local authority and the developer
based on demand and site viability.
The ‘Forces First' proposals form part of the upcoming
Defence Housing Strategy which will deliver a generational
renewal of Armed Forces housing, while supporting a drive to
supercharge housebuilding on surplus Defence land, delivering
high quality affordable homes for working families across
Britain. The Defence Secretary has identified the long-term
potential for over 100,000 homes on repurposed Defence land.
As part of the upcoming strategy, Labour will deliver a ‘Forces
First' approach to all housing developments on unused MoD land:
prioritising forces families and veterans for homeownership
opportunities and delivering high-quality service family
accommodation.
A trailblazer for this approach is already underway at MOD
Feltham in south-west London, where the MOD, the London Borough
of Hounslow and the GLA have agreed to adopt a ‘Forces First'
approach as part of a groundbreaking partnership to develop the
site. Once vacated, this new development alone is expected to
deliver hundreds of homes and jobs. Under the new approach, the
aim will be for a portion of the homes to have first priority for
military personnel or veterans, including some of the
intermediate affordable housing built on site.
This has been made possible due to the Labour Government's
historic deal to buy-back 36,000 military family homes, reversing
a failed Tory privatisation which had left military homes in an
appalling state and saving the taxpayer billions of pounds in
rental payments.
As part of the landmark Strategic Defence Review, the Labour
government committed to increasing investment into military
family housing by £1.5billion across this Parliament to help
overhaul the standard of military homes after 14 years of Tory
underinvestment. Earlier this year, Labour announced a new
‘Consumer Charter' for forces homes, driving higher move-in
standards, more reliable repairs, renovation of the worst homes,
and a named housing officer for every family.
MP,
Labour's Defence Secretary, said:
“Armed Forces housing was left in a shameful state by the
Conservatives, hammering morale and driving a recruitment and
retention crisis in our Forces.
“In our first year in office, Labour began the hard work to stop
the rot and start the renewal of Armed Forces housing. We will
turbocharge building on Defence land to deliver new homes for
both our service personnel and for civilian families across
Britain.
“This has all been unlocked by our historic deal to buy back
36,000 military family homes, reversing a failed Tory
privatisation and saving the taxpayer billions.
“Our new ‘Forces First' approach to building on MoD land will
prioritise forces families and veterans for homeownership
opportunities and deliver high-quality Service Family
Accommodation. Alongside our new Consumer Charter for military
homes and forthcoming Defence Housing Strategy, this is showing
forces families: we are on your side.”
Ends
Notes:
- Under the Tories, satisfaction with the standard of Service
Family Accommodation (SFA) fell to record lows while the Defence
Select Committee found that quality of housing was having a
significant impact on Armed Forces recruitment, retention, and
morale.
- The new ‘Forces First' approach will enshrine a new
presumption that service families and veterans receive priority
access to homeownership opportunities and high-quality homes as
part of the government's drive to turbocharge housebuilding on
MoD land. It will apply to a proportion of new homes on selected
sites, agreed between MoD, the local authority and the developer
based on demand and site viability.
- The new approach will be tailored to each development on a
site-by-site basis:
- Agreements with developers to offer market housing on a
priority basis to military personnel and/or veterans on a
‘first dibs' marketing basis.
- Affordable homes offered as a priority for forces personnel
and veterans. This model has already been used by the GLA in
London, with local authority agreement. It can be enshrined as
a condition of sale as part of a development partner approach.
- MoD acquiring high-quality new build properties developed
on Defence sites to improve the level of Service Family
Accommodation or Single Living Accommodation where required.
- The Defence Housing Strategy has been driven by an
independent review team, chaired by former Member of Parliament
and housing expert
Ross OBE, drawing on expertise from industry and forces
families.
- Today's announcement follows the Labour Government's landmark
deal to bring back 36,000 military homes into public ownership,
reversing a 1996 sale described by the Public Accounts Committee
as “disastrous”, and saving the taxpayer £600,000 per day by
eliminating rental payments to a private company.
- Labour's ‘Consumer Charter' for forces families is delivering
change where the Tories have failed, driving the following areas
of transformation, which will be in place by the year anniversary
of the buy-back:
- 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.
- This Summer, under commitment seven of the Charter, Labour
gave military families new rights to keep pets in service family
homes – military families can now keep up to two dogs, cats, or
smaller pets without needing permission — recognising the vital
role pets play in family life and mental wellbeing.
