Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Goldie on 13 April (HL7497), when they will announce their decision on a rebate to (1) service personnel, and (2) their families, living in serviced accommodation.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has been working to explore options for the calculation and implementation of a potential rebate to Service personnel and families in Service Accommodation. The MOD aims to make an announcement in the near future.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Goldie on 7 March (HL6243), what assessment they have made of the empty property figure of 20 per cent for Service Family Accommodation; and what steps they plan to take, if any, to reduce that figure.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises it has too many vacant Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties across the Defence estate. The current void SFA rate is 18% . The MOD aims to reduce this to no greater than 10% through an increase in occupation by Service Personnel and a targeted disposal plan.
Each year, approximately 15,000 Service Personnel and their families move for operational reasons; the MOD needs to retain vacant SFA to respond to this demand.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether armed forces families living in Service Family Accommodation will be able to benefit, by virtue of their contribution in lieu of council tax payments, from an equivalent sum to the £150 council tax rebate which is being made available to the civilian population.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given by the the Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans (Leo Docherty) to question 119540 on 10 February 2022 to the hon. Member for York Outer (Julian Sturdy).
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure Service Families are not disadvantaged in meeting rising energy costs by any poorly insulated or otherwise energy-inefficient Service Family Accommodation.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has a charging system whereby Service Families who occupy properties with a lower Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating pay a reduced accommodation charge. Currently 96.5% of SFA meet the minimum required EPC rating E.
The MOD plans to increase the energy efficiency to a minimum of an EPC rating C on all its homes by 2028. Over the last three years the MOD has invested £25 million per year on improving thermal efficiency in the worst performing homes.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether all Service Family Accommodation will follow the requirements of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards which require rental properties to meet a minimum Energy Performance Certificate rating standard of E by April 2023.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Currently 46,250 or 96.5% of Service Family Accommodation in the United Kingdom meet or exceed the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) requirements introduced in 2018 for homes to have a minimum energy rating of 'E' for new and existing occupants. The Department follows the Domestic Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard Regulations.
Since 1 March 2022 no homes have been allocated for habitation if they are below the EPC assessment of E.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average annual maintenance contract value per housing unit in Service Family Accommodation.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The average annual maintenance contract value per Service Family Accommodation (SFA) housing unit is £922.20.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average cost of maintenance for each armed forces housing unit in each of the last six years.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The average cost of maintenance for each Service Family Accommodation (SFA) for the last six financial years is shown in the table below:
Financial Year | Average cost per SFA |
2015-16 | £1,135 |
2016-17 | £1,169 |
2017-18 | £1,204 |
2018-19 | £1,240 |
2019-20 | £1,277 |
2020-21 | £1,289 |
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many armed forces housing units in the UK are currently unoccupied; and how many empty units there were in each year since 2015.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
As of 22 February 2022, there are 9,031 vacant Service Family Accommodation units (SFA) in the UK.
The table below details how many vacant SFA there were in the UK, in each calendar year since 2015:
January 2015 | 10,288 |
January 2016 | 9,950 |
January 2017 | 10,357 |
January 2018 | 11,342 |
January 2019 | 11,584 |
January 2020 | 10,472 |
January 2021 | 9,712 |
January 2022 | 9,404 |
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what improvements they expect to be provided by the Armed Forces Future Defence Infrastructure Services Contract which commences on 1 April.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Future Defence Infrastructure Services Accommodation contracts will deliver a number of improved services, including:
· Adopting industry standards on planned and preventative maintenance services.
· Shortened repair response times. Ensuring our suppliers attend appointments equipped to complete the repair in a single visit.
· Greater choice around appointment times, including weekday evenings and Saturday mornings, offering a one-hour time slot.
· Independent assurance that Service Family Accommodation prepared for move-ins meets the right standards before the family arrives.
· Incentivising supplier performance linked to levels of service performance targets and customer satisfaction.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many housing units will be managed under the Armed Forces Future Defence Infrastructure Services Contract which commences on 1 April.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
As of 22 February 2022, it is anticipated that a total of 46,687 Service Family Accommodation (SFA) will be managed under the Future Defence Infrastructure Services Accommodation contracts.