HOMES FOR HEROES

Intersting to note that potentially thousands of military homes across the UK are to be modernised, refurbished or rebuilt over the next decade under a £9 billion Westminster government plan to improve defence housing. The Ministry of Defence's new housing strategy should see improvements made to almost all of its 47,700 homes for military families in what Defence Secretary John Healey said will be the "biggest renewal of Armed Forces housing in more than 50 years".

The new plan is in response to consistent complaints from serving personnel about the state of their accommodation. Back in 2022, dozens of members and their families who told the BBC they were having to live in damp, mould-infested housing without heating. A House of Commons defence committee found back in 2022 that two-thirds of homes for service families needed "extensive refurbishment or rebuilding" to meet modern standards.

Under the new strategy, service family accommodation (SFA) will be refurbished with new kitchens, bathrooms and heating systems. About 14,000 will receive either "substantial refurbishment" or be completely replaced. The plans are part of the government's wider defence housing strategy, to be published on Monday (3rd November 2025). A total of £4 billion in funding to tackle the housing problem had already been announced. 

The Westminster government says it has also identified surplus MoD land which could be used to build 100,000 new homes for civilian and military families. Healey said: "This is a new chapter - a decisive break from decades of underinvestment, with a building programme to back Britain's military families and drive economic growth across the country."

Almost three years ago, the BBC was contacted by families in military accommodation in Sandhurst who had been living without heating for days. "We're at breaking point and something has to change. The system is broken," they said at the time.

In response to the story, the MoD said it was working with its contractors to improve the service. But a report released in December last year found those problems "still exist". 

"It is shocking that until a policy change in 2022, it was considered acceptable to house families in properties known to have damp and mould," the report said.

The MoD year (in 2021) announced it would acquire 36,347 military houses from property company Annington Homes for nearly £6 billion, reversing a privatisation deal struck in 1996 under the Conservative government. The deal would save millions in rent and maintenance costs, the MoD said, money that would be put towards fixing military accommodation.

Now none of this is particularly new, the Friday edition of the Financial Tines ( Friday 29th January 2022 ) carried a front page story about the attempts of the then Westminster Conservative government to reverse the privatisation of military housing ( under John Major ) back in 1996.  The MoD explored the possibility of using the “statutory leasehold enfranchisement rights” to buy out the private interest -  held by Terra Firma - Annington Homes ( owned by Guy Hands, the property billionaire ).

The former MoD housing, is on a 200 year lease, with the MoD paying some £183 million a year plus paying upkeep on the 38,000 remaining homes. The National Audit Office ( reported in 2018 ) that the original deal had lost the tax payer something like £4.2 billion pounds when the massive difference in the value of property was factored in. 

The original deal was concluded when Michael Portilo, was Minister of Defence. The MoD understandably has a great desire to avoid getting stung with costs on the remaining 172 years of the lease, and are using the property laws, with a test case, to see if it is possible to take back ownership of the property portfolio. 

Back in March 2010, I noted that it was worth noting that 57,600 homes ( in 1996 ) from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) were sold to City Financiers and they then rented them back to troops for a profit. The terms of the deal, made in 1996 meant that the MoD remained responsible for the properties' upkeep and claimed that the extra cash from the deal would provide badly needed funds to help refurbish them. However, it has since emerged that the Westminster Government diverted most of the money elsewhere.

The original deal resulted in the payment of a tidy £1.67 billion to the Treasury for the homes, a profit share of £156m on the sale of surplus properties, yet many properties were dilapidated and unfit to live in. Back in March 2010  it was revealed that the MoD had spent as little as £4.4m a year on maintenance and refurbishment. The Sunday Times revealed details of just how little the government spent on the properties reporting that General Sir David Richards, the head of the army, was concerned that many troops felt undervalued because of cuts to housing and shortages in other areas.

By the mid-1990s, military housing around the country was in dire need of tens of millions of pounds worth of repairs. John Major's Conservative administration agreed to sell off the Military housing stock to the highest bidder, partly to raise funds for a refurbishment programme. The original deal was put together in November 1996 with the government being paid for the homes, which would then be rented to troops and their families at below market rates. 

Surplus properties would be sold off with a percentage of the profits going to the Treasury. The consortium that acquired the military housing stock made more than £479 million in profits from its investment vehicle (Annington Homes) and became one of the UK's largest owners of private residential property.

Now this was all fine in theory, as the soldiers and their families should have benefited from the deal with hundreds of millions of pounds pouring into the Treasury. However, the Sunday Times revealed that New Labour ministers ensured that only a fraction of that sums raised be spent on the housing stock that had generated the windfall. 

Annual expenditure revealed in a parliamentary answer) on maintenance and upgrade was revealed to have ranged from £4.4 million to £13.9 million between 2003 and 2008. New Labour Ministers insisted that they would produce extra funds to help improve the quality of the homes and have pointed out that more than £27 million was spent in the last financial year (2099) but oddly enough that never happened under New Labour, the Conservative - Liberal Democrat coalition government or successive wholly Conservative  governments.

As a result of decisions made by the previous Conservative Government and by successive New Labour Governments is army families living in substandard military accommodation some of whose loved ones are serving overseas - so much for the military covenant. The poor maintenance record predated privatisation of the military housing stock well prior to 1996. 

The then Conservative Government at the time washed its hands of a long standing problem, by selling off the military housing stock to the highest bidder in what can best be described a questionable deal which shifted responsibility onto someone else so that ministers who could not be held accountable and subsequent New Labour Governments failed miserably, to ensure that repair and maintenance was being carried out.

Fast forward to 2022 and it briefly looked like, if the test cases were successful that an independent tribunal would determine the cost of taking the properties back into public ownership, using market values. The current property owner, who have been raking it in, has understandably kicked off big time as a serious little earner could vanish if the former military housing stock end up being brought back under rate control, of the state from the private sector.

A bad situation was made worse as successive New Labour government's failed to carry out basic repair and maintenance, they slashed the defence budget from which money for the maintenance of MOD property is provided. One wonders on what the £1.67 billion received was spent on and whether the then Chancellor Gordon Brown was ever aware of what was going on or even cared? 

Successive Westminster Governments have treated our servicemen and their families with contempt, so its no wonder some people began to think that it no longer matters which of the big two party's are in government, as our servicemen and their families are treated with contempt, forced to buy their own kit and treated to a total lack of interest and yet time and time again it is our servicemen who have been called on to step in to pull the fat from the fire whether it is dealing with the consequences of strikes, disasters, the saving lives at sea, foot and mouth and almost everything else in between, as an when necessary. 

Lets hope that this time Westminster sorts out the issue of military housing...

REMEMBERANCE 2025

Another remembrance Sunday ( 8th November ) has passed and at 11:00 am on Tuesday 11th November) it was one hundred and seven years to the moment when the Great War - at least on the Western Front ended - when the fighting was brought to an end with the armistice literally at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day. 

A few years ago we reached that point in time, where there were no more living veterans from the First World War, yet people will still pause to publically and privately remember the veterans and survivors of more historic and more recent conflicts and particularly those who never came back and those who have no known grave. 

The 947,023 military casualties (with 744,702 of them from these islands) and the others from parts of the Empire and then colonies between 1914 and 1918 (by way of comparison with the 264,000 military dead from 1939 - 1945) should still shock us even now.  

The killing continued through the morning of the 11th November - with the  French soldiers who were killed on the morning of the 11th November 1918 having the dates of their deaths recorded as the 10th November rather than the 11th. In Mons where the first world war in the West began and ended for the BEF at least, there are memorials to the first and last casualties on the Western Front both less than one hundred metres apart. 

My family like many others in Wales (and elsewhere on these islands and across the Commonwealth) had relatives who served and survived. And we   also had relatives who lost their lives in both the First and Second World Wars and served in other subsequent conflicts. 

My lost relatives (and their missing descendants), periodically play on my mind, particularly at times like this. My maternal grandmother’s lost two brothers in the First World War and its aftermath. Her elder brother was a regular soldier, who wrote home and told them not to allow his younger brother to join up and to come out to France. 

Sadly it was too late as the younger brother had already joined up and was killed in action in the spring of 1918 and is buried near Amiens. My paternal great grandfather (and my grandfather) both served in the First World War and both survived but both came back as deeply changed men (as did many others) by their service.

As someone, coming from a relatively large extended close family, I am of an age, where I grew up surrounded by a generation of older relatives a number of whom had seen active service in the second world war in the Navy, Army, Air Force and the merchant navy.

They like many from that generation, rarely talked about their actual experiences of the war, and then perhaps save only occasionally to those who they had served with, and who would have understood, because they had survived similar experiences. Younger relatives have also served in more recent more modern conflicts around the world and fortunately have come back. 

I have no problem remembering those who lost their lives and the courage, comradeship and the endurance of those who served in the First World War and other more modern conflicts (and not necessarily those who served in the armed forces). 

I have no time for rose tinted sentimental nostalgic flag waving foot-tapping pap. As has been said elsewhere, soldiers don’t go into conflict aiming to die - not for the politicians, for patriotism or even us - but they often can end up dying with their friends and comrades with whom they served. 

The first world war was the first conflict when afterwards a real concerted efforts were made to remember and record all of those who had fallen - particularly because of the decision (taken for a variety of reasons) not to bring the fallen home for burial. Although there are memorials to the Boer War in Newport Civic Centre and Llandaff Cathedrals. 

One consequence is that far too many literally still lie in corners of foreign fields, are names on war memorials, faded photographs, faded memories or too many literally have no grave at all - hence the memorials along the old Western Front.

Speaking of another bloody conflict across the Atlantic, the US President Abraham Lincoln noted at Gettysburg the fallen had given their last full measure of devotion. And that what we do or say does not really matter in comparison with what the fallen did and those who survived had done. 

It may be more true today that the world will little note the current crop of political leader’s lyrical wittering on conflict (both recent or older) or long remember them. What we should never forget what the former soldiers and veterans did and what they went through and too many still live with. 

We should not just cherish their memory but should ensure that after their military service they remain fully honoured as should be the military covenant. And never again should it ever be found that dead heroes are cheaper to honour than live ones. 

REMEMBERANCE 2024

Another remembrance Sunday has passed and at 11:00 am on Monday 11th November) it was one hundred and sixth years to the moment when the Great War - at least on the Western Front, when the fighting was brought to an end with the armistice literally at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day. 

A few years ago we reached that point in time, where there were no more living veterans from the First World War, yet people will still pause to publically and privately remember the veterans and survivors of more historic and more recent conflicts and particularly those who never came back. 

The 947,023 military casualties (with 744,702 of them from these islands) between 1914 and 1918 (by way of comparison with the 264,000 military dead from 1939 - 1945) should still shock us even now.  

The killing continued through the morning of the 11th November - with the  French soldiers who were killed on the morning of the 11th November 1918 having the dates on their deaths recorded as the 10th November rather than the 11th. In Mons where the first world war in the West began and ended for the BEF there are memorials to the first and last casualties on the Western Front. 

My family like many others in Wales (and elsewhere on these islands and across the Commonwealth) had relatives who served and survived and also relatives who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars and other subsequent conflicts. 

My lost relatives (and their missing descendants) from time to time, periodically play on my mind, particularly at times like this - my maternal grandmother’s lost two brothers in the First World War and its aftermath. Her elder brother was a regular soldier, who wrote home and told them not to allow his younger brother to join up and to come out to France. 

Sadly it was, however, too late as the younger brother had already joined and was killed in action in 1918 and is buried near Amiens. My paternal great grandfather (and my grandfather) both served in the First World War and survived but came back as deeply changed men (as did many).

As someone, coming from a relatively large extended close family, I am of an age, were I grew up with a generation of older relatives a number of whom had seen active service in the second world war in the Navy, Army, Air Force and the merchant navy.

They like many from those generations rarely talked about their actual experiences of the war, and then perhaps save only occasionally to those who they had served with, and who would have understood, because they had survived similar experiences. Younger relatives have also served in more recent more modern conflicts around the world and fortunately have come back. 

As I have said before I have absolutely no problem remembering those who lost their lives and the courage, comradeship and their endurance of those who served in the First World War and other more modern conflicts (and not necessarily those who served in the armed forces). 

I have no time whatsoever is rose tinted sentimental nostalgic flag waving foot-tapping pap. As has been said elsewhere, soldiers don’t go into conflict aiming to die - not for the politicians, for patriotism or even us - but they often can end up dying with their friends and comrades with whom they served. 

The first world war was the first conflict when real concerted efforts were made to remember and record all of those who had fallen - particularly because of the decision (taken for a variety of reasons) not to bring the fallen home for burial. 

One consequence is that far too many literally still lie in corners of foreign fields, are names on war memorials, faded photographs, faded memories or too many literally have no grave at all. 

Speaking of another bloody conflict across the Atlantic, the, US President Abraham Lincoln noted at Gettysburg the fallen had given their last full measure of devotion. And that what we do or say does not really matter in comparison with what the fallen (and those who survived) had done. 

It may be more true today that the world will little note the current crop of political leader’s lyrical wittering on conflict (both recent or older) or long remember them. What we should never forget what the former soldiers and veterans did and what they went through and too many still live with. 

We should not just cherish their memory but should ensure that after their military service they remain fully honoured as should be the military covenant. Never again should it ever be found that dead heroes are cheaper to honour than live ones. 

REMEMBERANCE 2023

Another remembrance Sunday approaches, this Saturday 11^th November, at 11am it will be one hundred and five years to the moment when the Great War - at least on the Western Front, when the fighting was brought to an end with the armistice literally at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day. 

A few years ago we reached that point in time, where there were no more living veterans from the First World War, yet people will still pause to publically and privately remember the veterans and survivors of more historic and more recent conflicts and particularly those who never came back. 

The 947,023 military casualties (with 744,702 of them from these islands) between 1914 and 1918 (by way of comparison with the 264,000 military dead from 1939 - 1945) should still shock us even now.  

My family like many others in Wales (and elsewhere on these islands) had relatives who served and survived and also relatives who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars and other subsequent conflicts. 

My lost relatives (and their missing descendants) from time to time, periodically play on my mind, particularly at times like this - my maternal grandmother’s lost two brothers in the First World War and its aftermath. Her elder brother was a regular soldier, who wrote home and told them not to allow his younger brother to join up and to come out to France. 

Sadly it was, however, too late as the younger brother had already joined and was killed in action in 1918 and is buried near Amiens. My paternal great grandfather (and my grandfather) both served in the First World War and survived but came back as deeply changed men (as did many).

As someone, coming from a relatively large extended close family, I am of an age, were I grew up with a generation of older relatives a number of whom had seen active service in the second world war in the Navy, Army, Air Force and the merchant navy. 

They like many from those generations rarely talked about their actual experiences of the war, and then perhaps save only occasionally to those who they had served with, and who would have understood, because they had survived similar experiences. Younger relatives have also served in more recent more modern conflicts around the world and fortunately have come back. 

As I have said previously I have absolutely no problem remembering those who lost their lives and the courage, comradeship and their endurance of those who served in the First World War and other more modern conflicts (and not necessarily those who served in the armed forces). 

I have no time whatsoever is rose tinted sentimental nostalgic flag waving foot-tapping pap. As has been said elsewhere, soldiers don’t go into conflict aiming to die - not for the politicians, for patriotism or even us - but they often can end up dying with their friends and comrades with whom they served. 

The first world war was the first conflict when real concerted efforts were made to remember and record all of those who had fallen - particularly because of the decision (taken for a variety of reasons) not to bring the fallen home for burial. 

One consequence is that far too many literally still lie in corners of foreign fields, are names on war memorials, faded photographs, faded memories or too many literally have no grave at all. 

Speaking of another bloody conflict across the Atlantic, the, US President Abraham Lincoln noted at Gettysburg the fallen had given their last full measure of devotion. And that what we do or say does not really matter in comparison with what the fallen (and those who survived) had done. 

It may be more true today that the world will little note the current crop of political leader’s lyrical wittering on conflict (both recent or older) or long remember them. 

What we should never forget what the former soldiers and veterans did and what they went through and too many still live with. We should not just cherish their memory but should ensure that after their military service they remain fully honoured as should be the military covenant. 

Never again should it ever be found that dead heroes are cheaper to honour than live ones. 

REMEMBERANCE 2022

Another remembrance Sunday approaches, another one under the shadow of Covid. On Friday 11^th November, at 11am it will be one hundred and four years to the moment when the Great War - at least on the Western Front, then the fighting was brought to an end with the armistice. 

A few years ago we reached that point in time, where there were no more living veterans from the First World War, yet people will still pause to publically and privately remember the veterans and survivors of more historic and more recent conflicts and particularly those who never came back. 

The 947,023 military casualties (with 744,702 of them from these islands) between 1914 and 1918 (by way of comparison with the 264,000 military dead from 1939 - 1945) should still shock us even now.  My family like far too many others in Wales (and elsewhere on these islands) had relatives who served and survived and also relatives who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars and other subsequent conflicts. 

My lost relatives (and their missing descendants) from time to time, play on my mind, particularly at times like this - one of my maternal grandmother’s lost two brothers in the First World War and its aftermath. Her elder brother was a regular soldier, who wrote home and told them not to allow his younger brother to join up and to come out to France. 

Sadly it was, however, too late as the younger brother had already joined up was killed in action in 1918 and buried near Amiens. My paternal great grandfather (and my grandfather) both served in the First World War and survived but came back as deeply changed men (as did many).

As someone, coming from a relatively large extended close family, I am of an age, that I grew up with a generation of older relatives a number of whom had seen active service in the second world war in the Navy, Army, Air Force and the merchant navy. 

They like many from those generations rarely talked about their actual experiences of the war, and then perhaps save only occasionally to those whom they had served with, who would have understood, because they had survived similar experiences. Younger relatives have also served in more recent more modern conflicts around the world and fortunately have come back. 

As I have said previously I have absolutely no problem remembering those who lost their lives and the courage, comradeship and their endurance of those who served in the First World War and other more modern conflicts (and not necessarily those who served in the armed forces). 

I have no time whatsoever is rose tinted sentimental nostalgic flag waving foot-tapping pap. As has been said elsewhere, soldiers don’t go into conflict aiming to die - not for the politicians, for patriotism or even us - but they often can end up dying with their friends and comrades with whom they served. 

The first world war was the first conflict when real concerted efforts were made to remember and record all of those who had fallen - particularly because of the decision (taken for a variety of reasons) not to bring the fallen home for burial. One consequence is that far too many literally still lie in corners of foreign fields, are names on war memorials, faded photographs, faded memories or too many literally have no grave at all. 

Speaking of another bloody conflict across the Atlantic, the, US President Abraham Lincoln noted at Gettysburg the fallen had given their last full measure of devotion. And that what we do or say does not really matter in comparison with what the fallen (and those who survived) had done. It may be more true today that the world will little note the current crop of political leader’s lyrical wittering on conflict (both recent or older) or long remember them. 

What we should never forget what the former soldiers and veterans did and what they went through and too many still live with. We should not just cherish their memory but should ensure that after their military service they remain fully honoured as should be the military covenant. Never again should it ever be found that dead heroes are cheaper to honour than live ones. 

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

Interesting to see that the Friday edition of the Financial Tines carried a front page story about the attempts of the current Westminster Conservative government to reverse the privatisation of military housing ( under John Major ) back in 1996.  The MoD is exploring the possibility of using the “statutory leasehold enfranchisement rights” to by out the private interest - currently held by Terra Firma - Annington Homes ( which is owned by Guy Hands, the property billionaire ).

The former MoD housing, is on a 200 year lease, with the MoD paying some £183 million a year plus paying upkeep on the 38,000 remaining homes. The National Audit Office ( reported in 2018 ) that the original deal had lost the tax payer something like £4.2 billion pounds when the massive difference in the value of property was factored in. 

The original deal was concluded when Michael Portilo, was Minister of Defence. The MoD understandably has a great desire to avoid getting stung with costs on the remaining 174 years of the lease, and are using the property laws, with a test case, to see if it is possible to take back ownership of the property portfolio. 

Back in March 2010, I noted that it was worth noting that 57,600 homes ( in 1996 ) from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) were sold to City Financiers and they then rented them back to troops for a profit. The terms of the deal, made in 1996 meant that the MoD remained responsible for the properties' upkeep and claimed that the extra cash from the deal would provide badly needed funds to help refurbish them. However, it has since emerged that the Westminster Government diverted most of the money elsewhere.

The deal resulted in the payment of a tidy £1.67 billion to the Treasury for the homes, a profit share of £156m on the sale of surplus properties, yet many are dilapidated and unfit to live in. Back in March 2010  it was revealed that the MoD had spent as little as £4.4m a year on maintenance and refurbishment. The Sunday Times revealed details of just how little the government spent on the properties reporting that General Sir David Richards, the head of the army, was concerned that many troops felt undervalued because of cuts to housing and shortages in other areas.

By the mid-1990s, military housing around the country was in dire need of tens of millions of pounds worth of repairs. John Major's Conservative administration agreed to sell off the Military housing stock to the highest bidder, partly to raise funds for a refurbishment programme. 

The original deal was put together in November 1996 with the government being paid for the homes, which would then be rented to troops and their families at below market rates. Surplus properties would be sold off with a percentage of the profits going to the Treasury. The consortium that acquired the military housing stock made more than £479 million in profits from its investment vehicle (Annington Homes) and became one of the UK's largest owners of private residential property.

Now this was all fine in theory, as the soldiers and their families should have benefited from the deal with hundreds of millions of pounds pouring into the Treasury. However, the Sunday Times revealed that New Labour ministers ensured that only a fraction of that sums raised be spent on the housing stock that had generated the windfall. 

Annual expenditure revealed in a parliamentary answer) on maintenance and upgrade was revealed to have ranged from £4.4 million to £13.9 million between 2003 and 2008. New Labour Ministers insisted that they would produce extra funds to help improve the quality of the homes and have pointed out that more than £27 million was spent in the last financial year (2099) but oddly enough that never happened under New Labour, the Conservative - Liberal Democrat coalition government or successive wholly Conservative  governments.

So what we have now as a result of decisions made by the previous Conservative Government and by successive New Labour Governments is army families living in substandard military accommodation some of whose loved ones are serving overseas - so much for the military covenant. The poor maintenance record predated privatisation of the military housing stock well prior to 1996. 

The Conservative Government at the time washed its hands of a long standing problem, by selling off the military housing stock to the highest bidder in what can best be described a questionable deal which shifted responsibility onto someone else so that ministers who could not be held accountable and subsequent New Labour Governments failed miserably, to ensure that repair and maintenance was being carried out.

A bad situation was then made worse as successive New Labour government's failed to carry out basic repair and maintenance, they slashed the defence budget from which money for the maintenance of MOD property is provided. One wonders on what the £1.67 billion received was spent on and whether the then Chancellor Gordon Brown was ever aware of what was going on or even cared? 

Successive Conservative and New labour Governments treated our servicemen and their families with contempt, no wonder some people believe that it no longer matters which of the two larger party's is in government, as our servicemen will be treated with contempt, forced to buy their own kit and treated to a total lack of interest and yet time and time again it is our servicemen that will be called on to step in to pull the fat from the fire whether it is dealing with the consequences of strikes, disasters, the saving lives at sea, foot and mouth and almost everything else as an when necessary.

Fast forward to 2022 and it looks like if the test cases are successfully that an independent tribunal will determine the cost of taking the properties back into public ownership, using market values. The current property owner, who have been raking it in, has understandably kicked off big time as a serious little earner could vanish if the former military housing stock end up being brought back under rate control, of the state from the private sector.