Some interesting work was done in 2006 for the last 'RAF Strategy' (check your crew-room magazine rack) on housing post 2013 'lay-down'. [Beagle - see, there's that word again].
I think this has been posted before, but DASA did some sterling research on the affordability of housing around the remaining bases compared with military salaries (banded by rank: ORs, JNCOs, SNCOs, Jnr Os, Snr Os etc). In most locations, SP would be having enormous commutes - inversly proportional to their rank - to reach 'affordable housing'. The RAF, along with the other Services, suggested a substantial housing grant to personnel who had completed x years of service to encourage them to live outside the wire (an a concomittant ROS). The Treasury were to be convinced, but an interesting business case was put forward, comparing the costs of encouraging home ownership vs maintaining a large and aging stock of SFA. The concept did not survive contact with the enemy: The Treasury pointed out that once public monies had been given (or loaned, as it happens) to SP, they could not avail themselves of public accommodation. In other words, if an SP took money to settle down, they couldn't go back in side the wire - even on posting - without paying punitive commercial rates.
The other issue, which DASA uncovered, was the expected rise in RTAs and fatalities that would result from more SP commuting even longer distances. In the RAF (of 48K at the time), DAS found that a futher 10-15 RAF personnel would be killed each year as a result of a policy shift. It would take a brave Commander to sign up to that!