Married Quarters for the axe
From today's Times:
Deirdre Hipwell, Deborah Haynes
Last updated February 27 2012 12:01AM
Married soldiers living in Army accommodation will be forced out of their homes under cost-cutting proposals being considered by the Ministry of Defence.
The move, which would lead to thousands of people from the Armed Forces being driven into the commercial property market, is part of a plan to reduce Services accommodation under a “New Employment Model”.
It indicates a potential shift away from the tradition of encouraging soldiers to move with ease around the country and overseas with their spouses and children.
Subsidised military housing for those with families is a career-long entitlement and has been referred to as a “staunch pillar” of the military covenant that the coalition has pledged to uphold. The MoD is discussing ending the right to a home after eight years of service.
One former head of the Army said that he understood the need to reduce the bill for accommodation, but that additional funds must be made available to buy or rent private property with ease.
If not, the MoD risked creating a system of “weekly boarders”. “It is not the right way to be. We have enough forced separation through deployment and training exercises,” General Lord Dannatt said.
Morale in the Armed Forces is already low after thousands of redundancies.
A final deadline has yet to be agreed, but The Times understands that cutting the housing entitlement to around eight to ten years of service is regarded as the preferred option. Afterwards, military families would have to find accommodation themselves.
Major-General Patrick Cordingley, a retired commander, said that the proposal would place an additional strain on the military, particularly when people were sent to fight overseas.
“It would be a bit of a let down,” he said. “Soldiers who get married are expecting to be relieved of the worry of where they are going to live while they are serving. I think [being made to find their own accommodation] is something that soldiers will find difficult.”
Married serving personnel or those in a civil partnership are offered subsidised quarters to make a long-term career in the Army as attractive as possible. The guarantee creates tight-knit military communities as well as producing a flexible workforce.
The new proposal would create what one officer described as a “postcode lottery”, with some postings, such as those around London, particularly undesirable because of the high cost of living, unless the loss of subsidised housing was matched with an increase in wage.
Captain Doug Beatie, a Military Cross recipient winner who retired from the regular Army two years ago but remains a TA member, said: “I don’t think it will go down very well. It is a cost cutting effort and . . . There will be no added incentive for the soldier to stay in the Army if he has to go and pay for private accommodation.”
The mobility of soldiers made it difficult for them to buy or rent a property in one location, Captain Beattie said, noting that he had lived in 14 different married quarters during his career. “If I am a soldier and I get married, one of the great plus points is you get accommodation. If they are saying to me you are not going to get accommodation until I organise it for myself, that will be incredibly difficult on myself, my wife and my family.”
Plans to create so-called super-garrisons across the country would provide stability for regiments, and could encourage personal home ownership, but individuals would still be expected to travel, including to the front line. The Army is the most mobile division of the Armed Forces, with the highest proportion — at least 60 per cent of personnel — living in Service accommodation.
The MoD’s family housing bill, however, has risen annually. It stands at more than £318 million a year, making a change in the system inevitable at a time when the military is under huge pressure to reduce expenditure.
The size of the Army is due to contract from just over 100,000 to 82,000 by the end of the decade, but military planners must still find housing for 20,000 troops stationed in Germany who are scheduled to return to Britain over the same period.
An MoD spokesman said: “The New Employment Model is looking at a range of measures connected with provision of support to our Service personnel from 2020, including accommodation. A report is due for consideration by the Defence Board in the summer of 2012.”
A survey by the Army Families Federation showed that 89 per cent of soldiers who responded thought that Service accommodation should be provided for the entirety of their military career.
Julie McCarthy, head chief executive of the federation, said military housing was the only way families could hope to spend quality time together given the demands of army life. Giving evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into Service accommodation, she said soldiers considered subsidised housing a “staunch pillar” of the military covenant that the coalition Government had promised to uphold.
“They see it as very much a huge part of their terms and conditions of service, and putting aside everything else that is being offered, that for them is the big thing,” she said.