I heard a good rumour that NEM might allow you to borrow early against your FAFPS or AFPS05 Early Departure Payment (EDP) lump sum by up to 50% of your salary or £25k (max) to use as a deposit for a house. Now that would be useful as you would effectively tie part of your future lump sum to the housing market at a time of your choice and reap maximum benefit when house prices soar again (and hopefully will!).
Warning - Just rumour and hearsay from a mate in Air Cmd, though... (But a trusted source).
LJ