§ Mr. JamiesonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many irregular tenancy notices have been served on former service personnel who have left the armed services at the end of their tour of duty;
(2) how many irregular tenancy notices have been issued in relation to dwellings owned by his Department in each of the past five years.
§ Mr. HanleyThe services do not issue irregular tenancy notices as service personnel are not tenants in the normal sense, but hold a licence to occupy a married quarter. All occupants of service married quarters are given notice of the date when their entitlement to occupy the quarter ceases and that they will become irregular occupants and will be liable for a "damage for trespass" charge in lieu of rent if the quarter is not vacated on the given date.
In the last five-year period, numbers of personnel leaving the Army at the end of their tour of duty who were irregular occupants was as follows:
Number 1989 858 1990 925 1991 740 1992 598 1993 630 This compares with the total number of irregular occupants of Army married quarters, which can include redundees, estranged families or civilians, in the last five-year period which was as follows:
Number 1989 1,622 1990 1,748 1991 1,468 1992 1,525 1993 1,811 Figures detailing the status of Navy and RAF irregular occupants are not readily available, and total numbers are produced only quarterly. At the end of March in each of the last five years the total number of irregular occupants was as follows:
440W
Navy RAF 1989 497 233 1990 507 214 1991 516 285 1992 394 228 1993 289 227