Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the entitlement requirements are for an application to live in Substitute Service Family Accommodation.

When Service Family Accommodation (SFA) is unavailable on assignment to a new duty unit, Service personnel who are married and accompanied by their family, registered in a civil partnership, a lone single parent, or are married unaccompanied fulfilling certain key appointments are entitled to apply for Substitute Service Family Accommodation (SSFA) broadly equivalent to SFA entitlement. SSFA is provided by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) contractor responsible for sourcing suitable properties from the commercial rental market, subject to the following criteria:

1. The applicant must be entitled to SFA in accordance with MOD regulations;
2. The MOD contractor must have issued a non-availability certificate in respect of the applicant;
3. They expect to occupy the property for a minimum of six months.