§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list(a) the number of married quarters, (b) the number empty and (c) the vacancy rate as a percentage in each year since 1992. [90629]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 12 July 1999]The information requested is given in the table.
227W
DHE occupancy and voids tracking—by financial year Date (a) Total stock (b) Total void (c) Void percentage 1991–92 74,109 11,180 15.09 1992–93 70,806 10,809 15.27 1993–94 70,320 11,789 16.76 1994–95 70,586 13,464 19.07 1995–96 70,409 13,943 19.80
DHE occupancy and voids tracking—by financial year Date (a) Total stock (b) Total void (c) Void percentage 1996–97 65,800 13,142 19.97 1997–98 64,238 13,225 20.59 1998–99 62,420 13,568 21.74 Since its inception in 1985, the Defence Housing Executive has disposed of 8,000 properties and has targets to dispose of some 2,000 a year thereafter. Despite this disposal programme the total number of voids has remained fairly constant over recent years because of falling Service demand for family accommodation and decisions awaited on future deployments arising out of the Strategic Defence Review.
Out of the current total voids stock of some 13,568, 3,360 are temporarily vacant awaiting incoming Service occupants. A further management margin has to be allowed to cater for family size, work location and family choice in relation to schooling etc. 1,930 properties are temporarily empty while undergoing refurbishment and modernisation. A further 2,000 properties are in the process of return to Annington Homes Ltd., for sale or demolition. The remaining stock is being assessed under a long-term housing plan in relation to military need and condition from which further disposal decisions will be made.
§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list by grade the condition of married quarters in(a) England and Wales, (b) Scotland, and (c) Northern Ireland giving the totals for (i) each grade and (ii) each of (a) (b) and (c); and what percentage the total of each grade represents of the whole stock. [90628]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 12 July 1999]The grading of condition of married quarters, which is established for rent purposes, is as follows:
England, Wales and Scotland Grade Number Percentage 1 27,942 44 2 22,411 36 3 8,857 14 4 3,985 6 Total 63,195
Northern Ireland Grade Number Percentage 1 106 4 2 1,299 43 3 1,206 40 4 376 13 Total 2,987 These figures do not refer solely to the condition of a property. They are based on a points system which identifies deficiencies and size and also takes into account the remoteness of the location to essential services.
The figure for Scotland is not separately maintained. The Defence Housing Executive has additionally, for the internal programming and prioritising of upgrade projects, 228W put in place a marking system which is based on the Standard 1 for Condition definition, and which allocates points for a total of 106 property attributes dealing with for example Building Fabric, Kitchens, Energy Efficiency, etc. The worst marking of each individual group of the Standard becomes the overall Standard for the house for work scheduling. This is a very exacting standard which enables major deficiencies to be easily assessed and programmed.
A stock condition survey has been undertaken to support and inform the Upgrade programme. This has been analysed by the marking system which prioritises against the deficiencies in the property and not simply its overall condition. For example,
- 99.1 per cent. of the Building Fabric section complies with Standard 1
- 98.0 per cent. of Bedrooms comply with Standard 1
- 85.1 per cent. comply with Security requirements for Standard 1
- 59.0 per cent. of Kitchens comply with Standard 1
- 51.8 per cent. comply with Energy Efficiency requirements for Standard 1.
DHE now has in place Regional Upgrade Construction Contractors and Project managers to progress the upgrade programme aimed at achieving Standard 1 for Condition in the major part of the Housing Estate by 2005.