Hundreds of new military family homes have been completed at a
Gloucestershire barracks, as the MOD drives forward its plans to
transform Armed Forces housing.
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) purchased the 281
new-build homes, through its Capital Purchase Programme, on
existing developments near Imjin Barracks, Innsworth, which is
the home of NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps. DIO worked with
major house builders with 232 homes built by Taylor Wimpey, 24
from Bloor Homes and 25 from Bovis Homes.
The new homes will be occupied by Service personnel and families
from Signals Regiments relocating to Imjin Barracks under the
Defence Estate Optimisation Army Programme. In addition to the
homes, new and improved infrastructure is being delivered on the
barracks to prepare for their arrival, including Single Living
Accommodation blocks, new garages and workshops, additional
administration buildings and improved gym facilities.
Work started on the homes at Imjin in 2023 with construction
taking place in phases and families moving in as their homes
became ready. Those who were able to move in earliest have been
enjoying their homes for nearly two years.
The houses include sustainability measures such as photovoltaic
panels to generate green energy, low carbon heating systems,
smart heating controls and electric vehicle charging points.
Families have already reported a significant reduction in their
energy bills due to these modern features.
Alongside the new build homes, some existing Defence homes at
Imjin Barracks have also benefitted from investment in recent
years including new boilers and heating systems, external wall
insulations and replacing doors and windows.
As well as providing new homes at Imjin Barracks, work has
recently started on the first forces family homes to be built by
the MOD in nearly a decade at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
The completion of the homes at Imjin comes as the MOD continues
to move forward on its promise to fix forces family housing
across the UK through the Defence Housing Strategy. Last year
1,250 homes were fully upgraded with more underway this year.
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry MP said:
Our Armed Forces families deserve homes they can be proud of and
that's exactly what we are delivering at Imjin Barracks. These
homes are a clear sign that we are keeping our promise to fix
military housing once and for all.
Backed by our £9.2 billion Defence Housing Strategy, we're not
just building new homes, we're upgrading thousands more across
the country to improve the quality of life for service families.
David Brewer, Chief Operating Officer, DIO, said:
These fantastic new homes for families at Imjin Barracks are part
of the Defence Estate Optimisation Army Programme to build
additional capacity at the site. Building and buying brand new
homes is just one of the ways we are improving housing for Armed
Forces families, alongside our Defence Housing Strategy which
will see thousands of existing properties upgraded across the UK.
Belinda Lunn, DEO Army Programme Director said:
As the first large-scale net zero carbon housing development
procured for the Ministry of Defence, this investment by the
Defence Estate Optimisation Army Programme demonstrates our
ongoing commitment to deliver an affordable and sustainable
estate. This project means hundreds more Service families will
benefit from modern, high-quality homes close to Imjin Barracks.
Improvements to military family housing are backed by an
investment of £9.2 billion over ten years delivered through the
Defence Housing Strategy, which sets out the most significant
transformation of UK military housing in more than 50 years. The
Strategy launched a generational renewal of service family
housing, including upgrading or replacing nine in ten existing
homes in the next decade, as well as turbocharging the
development of up to 100,000 homes on surplus Defence land.
