MoD to buy back military homes in £6bn deal

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) is set to buy back thousands of military homes in a deal it says will save millions in rent and maintenance costs.

The MoD is to acquire 36,347 houses from property company Annington Homes for about £6 billion, reversing a 1996 privatization deal.

MPs have were warned earlier If improvements are not made the damp and moldy housing may lead to more personnel deciding to leave the military.

Defense Secretary John Healey said the military housing problems “will not be fixed overnight” but it is a “big step forward”.

Currently, Eddington rents the house to the MoD at a concessional rate, while taxpayers foot the maintenance bills.

Recently the Commons Defense Committee concluded that two-thirds of homes for service families required “extensive renovation or rebuilding” to meet modern standards.

It is expected that the new deal will allow the Defense Ministry to work on redevelopment and improvements to modernize the houses, thereby reducing maintenance bills.

Officials said this would save £230m in annual rental costs and pave the way for the construction of new homes.

The old deal had prevented the Ministry of Defense from being able to demolish homes to build new housing.

Healy described it as “terrible”.

The process of taking the homes back into public ownership began under the Conservatives, with the MoD winning a legal battle to take some of the properties back in 2023.

UK Chief of Defense Staff Sir Tony Radakin welcomed the deal, calling it “an important step towards being able to make a meaningful difference for those who serve”.

two years ago, BBC reported Military families are living in damp and moldy conditions. At the time, the Defense Ministry said it was working with its contractors to improve the service.