Housing (Hansard, 20 July 1993)

§ 19. Mr. Hall
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent representations he has received concerning his policy on service housing.

§ Mr. Hanley
My Department receives an average of some 160 representations on service housing a month and approximately one-third of these are of a general policy nature.

§ Mr. Hendry
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the estimated cost of rent forgone for empty Ministry of Defence married quarters over the past year.

§ Mr. Hanley
It is my Department's policy to ensure that the number of vacant married quarters is kept to the minimum necessary to meet operational requirements. The calculation of quartering charges and the high turnover of occupancy in married quarters mean that it is not possible to establish the rent forgone on empty married quarters except at disproportionate cost.

§ Mr. Hendry
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many applications were received over the last three years from service personnel leaving the forces for discount sales of Ministry of Defence houses; and how many applicants purchased houses.

§ Mr. Hanley
Over the last three years, ending 31 March 1993, 70, 861 applications from service personnel were received through the scheme for purchasing married quarters at a discount and 1, 500 sales were completed. Many of these applications were multiple bids from the same individuals.
The scheme is open to all service personnel over the age of 25. It is not possible to identify the number of applications from and sales to personnel leaving the services except at disproportionate cost.
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