In a recent written response, Lord Coaker, Minister of State for the Ministry of Defence, outlined significant progress in the renovation and refurbishment of both Service Family Accommodation (SFA) and Single Living Accommodation (SLA), in response to a question from Baroness Goldie.
The update provided on 26th September 2024 highlighted substantial financial commitments made in the past year and future plans to improve living conditions for military personnel and their families.
According to Lord Coaker, “In Financial Year (FY) 2023-24, the Department invested £578 million on maintaining and improving SFA.”
This included £220 million spent on addressing damp and mould in 4,000 homes, refurbishing 1,000 long-term empty homes, and upgrading heating systems in 1,500 properties, alongside other improvements such as replacing doors and windows in 3,000 homes.
The investment is set to continue with £619 million allocated for the current financial year 2024-25, with particular focus on insulation improvements, remediation of damp and mould, and further refurbishments.
In regard to Single Living Accommodation, “£37.8 million was spent on improvements to SLA in FY 2023-24,” with £3.2 million focused on Safe & Legal compliance works.
For the upcoming year, “£41 million is planned to improve the condition of SLA, including refurbishment, heating upgrades, and room conversions to additional bedspaces.”
This is good, but looks like it was planned by the previous government rather than any new money. Any new money will have to come from a defence budget increase otherwise it just cut somewhere else!!!