BY John Healey, Defence Secretary
WHEN Labour won the election, satisfaction with military family housing was on the floor.
Damp. Mould. That’s not just bad maintenance, it’s a betrayal of service.
Behind many of the men and women who keep us safe are spouses, partners and children.
They make extraordinary sacrifices, the very least they deserve is a safe home.
The Tories botched privatisation of forces family homes in 1996, drove down morale and cost taxpayers £600,000 a day.
Within six months of taking office, this Labour government took 36,000 military homes back into public hands.
That deal unlocked a chance to fix forces housing and kickstart a housebuilding boom.
Labour’s new Defence Housing Strategy — backed by £9billion of investment over the next decade — is our plan to deliver that.
It will stop the rot and start the renewal.
Nine in ten homes will be modernised.
We are also delivering over 100,000 new homes for military and civilian families.
With our new Forces First policy, service personnel and veterans will go to the front of the queue to buy these new homes.
The Prime Minister has asked Defence to step up to provide the Home Office with temporary sites for asylum, and we are.
We’ve awarded armed forces the biggest pay rise in two decades and expanded childcare support to families deployed overseas.
Labour promised to renew the nation’s contract with those who serve and we are seeing that job through.
We are on the side of our forces, and their families.
