§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of his Department's personnel houses have been sold in(a) each of the last five years and (b) in 2002; and how many were sold (i) to private developers and (ii) to social landlords. [62429]
§ Dr. MoonieMost of the Families Quarters estate in England and Wales was sold to a private company, Annington Homes Ltd. (AHL) 1996, on a 999 year lease, and the Ministry of Defence leases back the houses required for service families. Properties for which the MOD has no long term requirement are handed back to AHL, under the terms of the sale agreement, for disposal. The means by which AHL chooses to dispose of the surplus properties they own is a matter over which the MOD has no influence. AHL rents out or sells the properties as a commercial organisation.
The number of properties passed to AHL in England and Wales for the years in question are:
40W
Properties handed hack to AHL 1997 8 1998 1,375 1999 1,195 2000 2,688 2001 2,656 2002 1,890 Some houses, including all family quarters in Scotland, are still owned by the MOD and disposals are handled by Defence Estates. The figures for such properties covering the whole of the UK are:
Social landlords Other sales 1997–98 132 569 1998–99 125 325 1999–2000 35 142 2000–01 395 186 2001–02 148 214 20021 4 9 1to date The figures include sales of MOD-owned houses apart from Family Quarters. "Other sales" include sales of individual houses to private purchasers.
§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of his Department's personnel housing units have been sold in the Twickenham constituency in(a) 2000, (b) 2001 and (c) 2002 so far; to whom they were sold; for what purpose; and at what price. [62430]
§ Dr. MoonieAll the Service Families Accommodation in the Twickenham constituency, along with most of the Service housing in England and Wales, was sold to a private company, Annington Homes Limited, in November 1996. Ministry of Defence leases back from Annington the properties required for service families and these are administered and maintained by the Defence Housing Executive.
Properties for which the MOD has no long term requirement are handed back to Annington under the terms of the sale agreement, for disposal. No service housing in Twickenham was released for disposal in 2000 or 2001, but 24 properties in the constituency were passed to Annington for disposal in March 2002. The MOD has no influence over the manner of disposal of these properties; whether they are rented out or sold is a commercial decision taken by Annington. If they are sold, the price is arrived at in consultation with local agents and in the context of the local housing market at the time of sale.