SFA - Are DHE getting rid??

[Farrier]

I recently had a contractor
(From Modern Housing Solutions [and if they're the solution what the h**l was the problem like to start with?])
around to the SFA to bodge up, sorry, fix a problem, who said the DHE were planning to get rid of all the SFAs by 2010 to save money.

Has anybody else heard this?

From the rent increases recently (to keep in line with the private sector - uuuuhhh what private sector company builds accommodation next to runways?????) and the poor performance as a landlord, is this going to be a surprise?

[Aeronut]

DHE don't even own them, they just "manage" them.

[Pontius Navigator]

I don't think DHE even manage them everywhere. Don't know the ins and outs but at High Wycombe the new contractor changed a leaking radiator no questions asked. The previous repair - chewing-gum - had eventually failed.

[mutleyfour]

With the sale of the defence housing I understand an agreement was made that meant all of the MQ's would be handed over within 25 years of the original sale date. I assume therefore that the MOD's plan is to superbase by that time with Sailors, Soldiers and Airman buying and living in their own property and not MQ's. This might explain why the MQ rent is going up so rapidly each year under the "keep in line" umbrella. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that the MOD want you out of your MQ and soon.

[plans123]

My dear old mum worked for Defence Estates until recently and told me something similar.

Since I got onto the property ladder 3 years, I've never been happier (albeit skint). Best jump before your pushed because house prices will just keep climbing and climbing - so no time like the present.

[pratattheback]

Apparently the rumour IS true. It must be. I heard it too!:O That is the deal (we all go private), but is that going to work when you are a 20 yr jnr rank serviceperson, living in London, with 2 kids, on a low wage! Lets be honest, it does happen and one of the things keeping young(er) people in the forces is the availability of more affordable family accommodation. I will admit that the London scenario is probably quite rare (please correct me if I'm wrong), but shouldn't we be trying to entice people to stay in with a perk such as cheaper housing? I'm bored of hearing that:civvies have to pay rent/mortgages etc,etc. Civvies don't go on 4-6 month tours to the sand. We are not civvys! People up top need to heed this little problem, because it is a retention issue for new and old.
Yep,(housing) have wound me up abit lately, but in their defence, they only manage something that the MOD sold on the cheap to Annington homes...and they are a company out to make money. It's not their fault, but I feel that the MOD will begin to wonder where alot of it's personnel have gone in a few years time due to the housing arrangements!!! Keep smiling. Plans 123, I'm with ya buddy, it's a killer innit!

[South Bound]

And of course it would be a lot easier to stomach paying comparable rates if:

1. We had say in where we want to live, which we don't always. I could always move out, but some areas in the country are just not affordable/desirable, especially to some of our less-well-paid airmen and soldiers.
2. The houses were maintained to civil standards. As a landlord, when my house breaks I pay top-dollar to get it fixed. It keeps the tenants sweet (and hopefully in the property) and it is also their right. I think people forget the c:mad: p standard most of the SFA is in. Yes a 2/3/4 bed house would cost £xxxx on the civil rental market, but I certainly wouldn't pay that to live in a house as poorly decorated and maintained as most SFA. The 'discount' is to reflect the fact we do not choose where we live, and to make it affordable to all; it is NOT an excuse for poor standards.

Rant rant:*

[Talking Radalt]

I heard a rumbling yonks ago that the overall very long term (25 years +) plan is to do away with SFA completely on the basis most civvies have to find their own place to stay wherever their job takes them.
This, of course, conveniently glosses over the vastly different working practices of Civvyworld v Planet MOD.