§ Mr. David StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of housing accommodation on RAF operational UK bases has been identified as below tolerable standards. [133174]
§ Mr. CaplinThe Defence Housing Executive (DHE) manages and maintains Service family housing in Great Britain. As these properties are managed on a tri-Service basis, statistical information on the individual Services is not available.
DHE is working towards upgrading its entire core housing stock (around 41,000 properties) to Standard 1 for condition, the best standard of Service housing. Currently some 90 per cent. of Service families are in houses at either Standard 1 or Standard 2 for condition and only 63 core properties are still at Standard 4 for Condition, the lowest standard of Service housing.
In the last financial year DHE exceeded its Key Target of 1,200 upgrades, bringing 1,440 properties up to Standard 1. Partial upgrades are also undertaken, with plans for improvements to over 4,600 homes this financial year.
All properties are inspected before families move in to ensure that they are fit for occupation, and DHE has teams of technically qualified staff at regional and local level to deal with problems that occur during occupation.