MP condemns dire military housing as £9bn defence homes overhaul debated
An MP has criticised the state of military housing as dire quality as plans for a £9bn housing strategy were discussed.
Former soldier Paul Foster – who served with the Royal Engineers – told the committee about the state of the married quarters he lived in during the 1990s.
The Labour MP's comments came as the Armed Forces Bill Committee discussed the Defence Housing Strategy to improve standards of military accommodation.
Mr Foster said: "Thirty years ago, I was living in a married quarter in the Royal School of Military Engineering in Chatham, and it was crap.
"I'm sorry about the language, but people need to understand how poor this accommodation was – I mean really poor.
"Thirty years later, it appears to me it's in an even worse condition.
"We've got less houses and somebody somewhere has been having the public purse away here because there is billions of pounds being expended on an estate that is crumbling.
"Our service personnel deserve better."
The Government has pledged to invest £9bn into military housing over the next decade, including plans to build 100,000 more homes and improve 40,000 existing ones.
Appearing before the committee, David Brewer, chief executive officer of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, said the plans represent "game-changing" investment in the estate.
He told MPs: "We have the financial settlement to deliver the most ambitious programme of improvement and work that has been set out for a very, very long period of time.
"We are putting in place the organisational arrangements that allow us to deliver great value for money by just managing the work in a proper, organised, planned way with the right level of professional oversight."
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