"First-dibs" for Royal Navy families and veterans' to get new houses amid plans to "turbocharge" building
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Armed forces families and veterans will be given “first dibs” on new homes built on surplus Ministry of Defence land.
Military personnel will receive priority access to newly built accommodation under the plans, with sites also available to civilian families. The “Forces First” scheme, confirmed at Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, involves a “presumption” that personnel and veterans would receive priority access to developments on surplus MoD land “through ‘first dibs’ on new homes built”.
Labour added that “long-term potential” has been identified for more than 100,000 homes on repurposed defence land. This comes after 36,347 properties were reacquired by the government from the private sector - property management company Annington - earlier this year at a cost of almost £6bn.
Defence secretary John Healey said the government is determined to “stop the rot” of poor quality houses for servicemen and women. Many sites have ridden with damp, mould, infestations, and other problems. “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.”
The priority measures will apply to a proportion of new homes on selected sites, agreed between MoD, the local authority and the developer based on demand and site viability. Some properties made available will be intermediate affordable housing. After accepting the recommendations in the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), Labour has pledged to increase military housing investment by £1.5bn across parliament.
Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said military families in the city have been forced to live in sub-standard accommodation for far too long. “After just one year of Labour Government, we have bought back 650 military homes in Portsmouth from the private landlord, ensuring these become homes fit for our heroes,” he added.
“Now we are ensuring Armed Forces personnel and veterans receive first dibs on new homes built on surplus MoD land.”