Ministry of Defence documents show a large share of the money earmarked for military accommodation has been pushed back, as armed forces campaigners warn that thousands of families face years more of poor conditions.
The Government has postponed £800m of planned renovations to military housing until at least 2029, according to a letter from a senior Ministry of Defence (MoD) official that was first reported by The Times. The money formed part of a £9.2bn programme to repair roughly 40,000 service homes. Campaigners say the delay means personnel and their families will continue to live with mould, damp, faulty boilers and leaking roofs. The MoD says the funding has been deferred rather than cancelled.
What the letter says
The scale of the postponement was set out by Jeremy Pocklington, the MoD’s permanent under-secretary, in a letter sent in August to the chair of the public accounts committee. He wrote: “Global uncertainties have meant that we have had to balance the investment in housing over the next four years with other urgent defence priorities; consequently, approximately £0.8bn of investment originally planned for this parliament will be deferred into the second period of the DIP.”
DIP refers to the Defence Investment Plan, which includes the £9.2bn housing commitment. The plan’s fine print also acknowledged that incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham would need to secure an extra £5bn for defence in his first budget, which is expected later this month. Ministers have since said that a “small amount of the money in the defence housing budget” would be pushed back to at least 2029 in favour of “military readiness for our forces now”. They did not give a figure.
Mr Pocklington maintained that, even after the delay, the housing budget for the next four years “represents a step change from the historic position”.
Criticism from campaigners and the opposition
Armed forces campaigners have described the conditions endured by some military families as a “national disgrace”. Antony Cotton, an armed forces activist and Coronation Street actor who had previously helped the Government promote its housing programme, said the delays would cause real harm to thousands of families.
“A soldier, an aviator, a sailor or a marine should only be having to think about how they’re serving,” he said. “They should not be thinking about whether their child’s bedroom has mould crawling up the walls. That is a national disgrace, and I am ashamed of it. More people should be up in arms about it.”
He added: “Prisoners would not be housed as badly.” Mr Cotton also said he had been able to reassure families two years ago. “I was able to say to families: ‘Listen, you’re on the list, it’s on the horizon; your house will get sorted’,” he said. “And now it’s like there are thousands of houses that aren’t going to be on the list.”
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge accused the Government of misleading the public. “After months of Labour ministers assuring us that no money would be taken from the budget for armed forces accommodation, we now get the truth — £800m is actually being cut,” he said. “In reality, this is a huge chunk of the cash meant for forces’ housing, diverted from supporting military families just when we should be giving them our all.”
The Government’s position
A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said: “This government is investing record amounts in forces housing, after decades of neglect, through £9.2bn of investment. This will see 90 per cent of military homes upgraded, renewed or rebuilt and 1,250 of the worst homes have already been upgraded. Overall satisfaction with military homes has increased by 12 per cent in the past year alone, now reaching 75 per cent.”
The £9.2bn programme covers about 40,000 homes, roughly 90% of the estate the Government has identified for upgrading, renewal or rebuilding. It is a 10-year commitment, and the MoD says the deferred £800m has been moved from the first four-year period into the second rather than abandoned.
Background
The military housing estate has built up a substantial maintenance backlog after years of underinvestment. That is why the current programme involves both repairing existing properties and replacing some homes entirely. The housing programme was itself presented as part of efforts to improve recruitment and retention, and many service families depend on accommodation tied to postings and bases.
The decision comes as the Government seeks to increase spending on military readiness, weapons, ammunition, infrastructure and personnel while also dealing with an ageing housing estate.
