Forces’ homes in poor condition

A third of armed forces families in Ministry of Defence (MoD) housing are unhappy with their standard of housing, a National Audit Office report has found. In the past two years just 1,700 of forces’ 50,000 homes have been upgraded, and at the rate of progress it will take two decades to get the housing stock up to standard. More than 9,000 properties, or 18 per cent of stock, are standing empty because they are in the wrong location or are too small for families. The MoD provides housing for 42,000 army personal and families and spends £38 million on maintaining vacant properties and £16 million on private rented accommodation for families it cannot house.