Press Release - Ministry of Defence: Service
Families Accommodation
18 March 2009
A National Audit Office report has found that
the condition of 90 per cent of the Service Families Accommodation
in Britain is at the two highest of four standards. However a
specially-conducted survey has however revealed that, while 52 per
cent of Service families feel their Ministry of Defence
accommodation is in a good condition, 31 per cent are dissatisfied
with the condition of their property. The MOD is currently
undertaking a programme to upgrade Service family accommodation to
the highest condition. In the last two years it has upgraded
some 1,700 properties and will continue upgrading an average of 800
per year.
The MOD has over 50,000 properties across the
United Kingdom, providing housing for around 42,000 Service
personnel and their families. At the current rate of upgrade, it
would take some 20 years before all properties reached condition 1
(the highest), subject to future levels of funding and the future
size of the estate. Many houses within Condition 2 are
also at a good standard overall, though it is a broad band and
other houses in it have serviceable but outdated kitchens and
bathrooms.
Service personnel are required to be mobile,
and each year there are over 20,000 family moves. Families
are expected to look after their properties and, on the whole, were
satisfied with the move out process, but less satisfied when moving
in to a new property. Of the families the NAO surveyed, 43
per cent were unhappy with the state of the carpets on moving in,
38 per cent had complaints about the general state of the property
and 35 per cent felt the property had not been cleaned to their
satisfaction. In most cases, families had not seen the
accommodation before moving in, and would have liked their personal
family circumstances taken more into account when being allocated
accommodation.
The MOD is responsible for all but the most
minor maintenance tasks on property. A single contract for
maintenance work was introduced for properties in England and Wales
in 2006. 94 per cent of families we surveyed had used the repair
service whilst in their property. Some of the initial problems with
the service have been resolved, but many families who responded to
the NAO survey were still dissatisfied with the repairs service,
with 24 per cent saying their properties were poorly
maintained.
The MOD’s provision of housing reflects better
value for money than renting from the open market. Its
current housing stock has however been acquired over many years and
in many cases is in the wrong location to meet demand. There is
also a shortage of properties for larger families. But the MOD also
has 9,170 vacant properties, totalling 18 per cent of its housing
stock, which are awaiting allocation to service personnel; awaiting
maintenance, upgrade work or new carpets; of the wrong
type/size/location; or awaiting disposal. The average annual cost
of a vacant property is £4,200 excluding the cost of any
maintenance work. The MOD is working hard to reduce the number of
vacant properties to a target management margin of ten per
cent.
Tim Burr, head of the National Audit Office, said
today:
“The MOD is working to improve the housing stock
for Service families but it will still take many years to achieve
its aim of getting all families in the highest condition property.
The MOD needs to press on with disposing of vacant properties so
that it can focus resources on improving the remaining
stock.
Notes for Editors
-
The Ministry of Defence has over 50,000
properties across the United Kingdom, providing housing for around
42,000 Service personnel and their families.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmpubacc/841/841.pdf
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website, which is at
www.nao.org.uk. Hard copies can be obtained
from The Stationery Office on 0845 702 3474.
-
The Comptroller and Auditor General, Tim Burr,
is the head of the National Audit Office which employs some 850
staff. He and the NAO are totally independent of
Government. He certifies the accounts of all Government
departments and a wide range of other public sector bodies; and he
has statutory authority to report to Parliament on the economy,
efficiency and effectiveness with which departments and other
bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 19/09
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