MoD Survey: Most Personnel Behind New Housing Plans
The Ministry of Defence has released the results of its survey on its plans for military housing, known as the 'Future Accommodation Model' (FAM).
It plans to try to help forces families onto the housing ladder or give them an allowance so they can rent in the private sector.
The MoD's survey of the Army, Royal Navy and RAF was designed to help inform the development of the plans.
It found that 46% of respondents would choose to continue living in service accommodation under the FAM, with 37% of those in Service Family Accommodation (SFA) and a further 9% in Single Living Accommodation (SLA).
54% meanwhile, said they would choose to rent or own, with 10% saying they would rent near work, 23% saying they would own near work and 21% saying they would own away from work.
Of those currently living in SFA about half (49%) said they would choose SFA under these conditions and about half (51%) would not.
The figures are in contrast to a survey of more than 8,000 families by the Army Families Federation (AFF), which found that 70% of respondents said they would prefer to live in Service Family Accommodation (SFA) rather than rent or buy in the private sector.
In that poll, 76% said under the new accommodation model they would leave or consider leaving the forces.
The MoD can point to a larger and more varied sample size, however, with over 24,000 'valid' responses from across the three services, after 'data cleaning', from a pool of approximately 137,000 personnel - a response rate of 18%.
Indeed, SFA proved a much more popular choice with the Army, with 42% saying they would choose it under the new plans, as opposed to 32% of RAF respondents and 27% of Royal Navy or Royal Marines personnel.
The overall figures, however, show that 16% of soldiers responded to the survey, compared to 14% of sailors or marines and 26% of airmen.
The survey was open to all regular service personnel, other than under-18s, the Special Forces and personnel stationed in Northern Ireland for security or ethical reasons.
It was also open to reserve personnel currently in receipt of service accommodation.
One interesting difference in the preferences was between ranks. The proportion of personnel who found the FAM 'attractive' decreased the more senior their rank.
Less than a third (30%) of senior officers considered it attractive, compared to 63% of junior ranks.
Over half (51%) of service personnel felt that the plans are fairer than the current MOD accommodation offer - but this was largely driven by other ranks (53%) in comparison to officers (41%).
The other ranks, however, were also the least informed about the survey. Nearly twice as many other ranks (47%) had never heard of it, in comparison to 24% of officers. Overall, 43% of personnel had never heard of FAM before the survey.
55% of personnel found the plans attractive, with 24% finding it unattractive and 21% saying it was neither.
The MoD, meanwhile, has previously said its new model is much fairer because it gives personnel more freedom to choose not only where they live, but who they live with.
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