Armed forces families get ‘first dibs’ on homes under Labour housebuilding plans

Military personnel will receive priority access to housing under the plans after the Government struck a deal to buy back more than 36,000 properties from the private sector at a cost of almost £6 billion.

Confirming the “Forces First” scheme at Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, the Defence Secretary said the UK Government is determined to “stop the rot” of poor quality homes for servicemen and women.

“Armed forces housing was left in a shameful state by the Conservatives, hammering morale and driving a recruitment and retention crisis in our forces,” he said.

“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.”

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Labour said the move would involve a “presumption” for personnel and veterans to receive priority access to developments on surplus MoD land “through ‘first dibs’ on new homes built”.

It said “long-term potential” has been identified for more than 100,000 homes on repurposed defence land.

In a report last December, the Commons Defence Committee warned two-thirds of accommodation for service families needs “extensive refurbishment or rebuilding” to meet modern standards.

Damp and mouldy homes could see more personnel deciding to leave the military unless the situation improves, the cross-party group of MPs warned.

The new measures would apply to a proportion of homes on selected sites, agreed between the MoD, the local authority and the developer based on demand and site viability, Labour said.

The ministry bought back 36,347 houses from property firm Annington in January, reversing the 1996 privatisation process.

Ministers and officials said the deal, which was formally completed on Thursday, would mean ending the £230 million annual rental cost of the homes.

The MoD said the previous deal left the taxpayer nearly £8 billion worse off, with £4.3 billion in rental payments and vacant properties worth around £5.2 billion handed back to Annington, partially offset by the £1.7 billion income generated in 1996 as part of the original deal.

Because the deal eliminates the liabilities associated with the leases, the impact on net financial debt is limited to £1.7 billion despite the near £6 billion outlay.