Scandal of military homes unfit for heroes set to end with £9 billion boost

The scandal of military homes unfit for heroes is finally set to end after the Government announced a £9 billion boost to housing.

Armed Forces personnel and their families will now benefit from the greatest transformation of UK military housing in more than 50 years, with more than 40,000 service family homes to be modernised, refurbished or rebuilt.

The move is a vital step towards fixing the mess left after years of underfunding from the Tories, who left the lowest ever satisfaction with forces housing. Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Mirror, the Defence Secretary John Healey explained this was a boost for both veterans and those still serving.

He said: “We are ending 15 years of a Tory scandal on forces homes and making sure that in future we can really say as a country that we provide homes that are fit for heroes.

“I have seen some of the worst housing in forces bases, the very worst are damp, have mould, or a hole in a child’s bedroom. The very least that forces and their families deserve from this country is a recognition of their service and a decent home for their families to live in.”

The senior minister explained this was a vital priority not just because those who served deserved good housing, but that homes were so bad under the Tories people that people were simply quitting the military. He said: “The year before the election saw the largest number of complaints in a single year about housing, and they left a crisis in military morale, which had plummeted over the 12 years before the election from 60% saying they were satisfied with forces life to 40%.

“For 15 years the Tories set recruitment targets and missed them in every single year for every single service and we heard hundreds of military regulars and hundreds more leaving each month than joining.

At the heart of the complaints and the low morale for many was the state of the housing and the homes that they and their families were forced to live in.

“We ask extraordinary sacrifices of our forces, often unseen by many. At the very least they deserve a decent home for their families.”

The Mirror has long called for improved military housing in its Homes for Heroes campaign. The £9 billion programme is part of a new Defence Housing Strategy to be published on Monday, which will see tens of thousands of Armed Forces houses modernised or upgraded, with around 14,000 receiving substantial refurbishment or replacement, ensuring homes fit for our forces and their families.

The renewal is made possible following the government’s landmark Annington Homes deal earlier this year, which brought 36,000 properties back into public ownership, saving the taxpayer £600,000 per day – savings which are now being reinvested in fixing forces housing and getting Britain building on defence land.

The Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “Our Armed Forces families make extraordinary sacrifices for our country, and they deserve homes that truly feel like home. This record investment will deliver modern, safe and comfortable housing for tens of thousands of service families. This is a plan for generational renewal that puts forces first, giving those who serve, and those who support them, the security and respect they deserve.”