Campaigner disappointed as work on 14,000 sub-standard military homes delayed

Refurbishment work on 14,000 military homes that the Government had previously said required substantial improvements is being delayed to help fund the Defence Investment Plan (DIP).

Under a £9bn programme announced last year, the MOD said its surveyors had identified that three in 10 properties needed significant refurbishment work, with some needing to be rebuilt altogether.

Antony Cotton, a prominent campaigner for better housing standards for forces' families, branded the delay "very disappointing", but the MOD said it would push ahead with the work, just at a later stage.

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Work on hold for at least four years

Yesterday, the Government published its long-awaited DIP, which totals £15bn in addition to existing defence budgets.

Within it, the MOD outlined how and when spending will take place, including the news that one of its key commitments on improving the standards of military homes would see 14,000 properties delayed until at least 2030.

In 2025, under its Defence Housing Strategy, the MOD outlined a series of plans including the significant renovation or rebuilding of almost a third of military homes, deemed to be substantially in need of work.

At the time, ministers even called in prominent supporters of the military, including TV star and forces champion Antony Cotton, to help publicise what it described as the "biggest change to defence housing in half a century".

Feeling let down

But Mr Cotton said people would now feel let down by the news of the delay to this important work, telling BFBS Forces News that he felt disappointed.

"Behind those front doors are families and service personnel with kids," said Mr Cotton.

"If you've got a house that's in a state of disrepair, that you were looking forward to being done so your kids could have nice things again and not have mould on stuff, that's the bottom line."

Mr Cotton added: "I was able to say to families that would send me messages about their accommodation that was failing them 'listen, it's on the horizon; your house will be on the list'.

"And now it's like there are 14,000 houses that aren't going to be on the list. It's very frustrating."

Other elements of the previously announced Defence Housing Plan remain in place, including the establishment of the Defence Housing Service – which is due to begin work next year – and a plan to build new homes on surplus defence land, although these will eventually be sold on the open market.

In a statement issued via the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, the MOD said 1,250 of the worst homes had already been upgraded, and a further 2,000 are due to be improved this financial year.

BFBS Forces News has asked the MOD to clarify how many of the 14,000 properties requiring refurbishment are currently occupied by service personnel.