Accommodation (Hansard, 26 June 1992)

§ Mr. Eric Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much service accommodation is located in(a) Lothian and (b) Scotland; and how much service accommodation in (i) Lothian and (ii) Scotland is currently empty.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
As at 31 March 1992, the latest date for which figures are available, MoD owned 753 service married quarters in Lothian and 6,567 in Scotland.356W Of these, 174 were vacant in Lothian and 954 in Scotland. Many of the unoccupied properties were either undergoing major maintenance work or modernisation, some were already allotted to service families who were due to move in shortly and others were being considered for disposal. In addition, 249 properties in Scotland were in the process of being sold, 53 of these were in Lothian.

§ Mr. Eric Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many applications from service personnel to purchase his Department's accommodation through the services discount scheme have been received in each of the last 10 years.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
Since the introduction on 1 December 1983 the following numbers of applications have been received.

Financial year Number of applications

1984–85 10,853

1985–86 16,255

1986–87 29,002

1987–88 51,261

1988–89 81,234

1989–90 78,298

1990–91 35,662

1991–92 22,026

Many of these applications are multiple bids from service personal.

§ Mr. Eric Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what communications he has had in the last six months with local authorities about the housing opportunities available to ex-service personnel and their families.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
As part of the process of assembling a database to inform those leaving the services who may wish to seek local authority accommodation, officials of my Department wrote in December 1991 to the housing officers of local authorities seeking information about their policies regarding the housing of ex-service personnel. The results of these enquiries are now held centrally at the joint service housing advice office, Old Sarum, which was set up in May this year to provide advice on a range of housing matters to service personnel. At a local level, regular contact has been maintained, and continues to be maintained, by service units with local authorities on the housing needs of service personnel leaving the service.

§ Mr. Eric Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel have purchased their homes through the services discount scheme in the third quarter of financial year 1991–92.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
A total of 102.

§ Mr. Eric Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total amount of discounts given out by the services discount scheme in each year since its inception.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
The amount of discount given out by the services discount scheme since its introduction on 1 December 1983, is as follows: 357W

Financial year Discount in £

1983–84 Nil

1984–85 1,300,415

1985–86 2,427,607

1986–87 4,173,860

1987–88 3,734,206

1988–89 7,299,277

1989–90 8,158,387

1990–91 9,681,730

1991–92 6,942,010

Financial year	Number of applications
1984–85	10,853
1985–86	16,255
1986–87	29,002
1987–88	51,261
1988–89	81,234
1989–90	78,298
1990–91	35,662
1991–92	22,026

Financial year	Discount in £
1983–84	Nil
1984–85	1,300,415
1985–86	2,427,607
1986–87	4,173,860
1987–88	3,734,206
1988–89	7,299,277
1989–90	8,158,387
1990–91	9,681,730
1991–92	6,942,010