§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much military service personnel housing is owned by his Department in(a) the UK and (b) overseas. [54643]
§ Dr. MoonieMost of the Families Quarters estate in England and Wales was sold to Annington Homes Ltd (AHL) in November 1996. The Defence Housing Executive (DHE) leases back from AHL the properties it needs to house Service families (some 45,000).
However, a number of Service Family Quarters in England and Wales continue to be directly owned by the Ministry of Defence, as do all those in Scotland.
So far as overseas locations are concerned, many of the properties used are not owned by MOD but are hirings or form part of an MOU or agreement with the country concerned. In Germany, for example, Service Families Accommodation (some 8,456 units) is owned by the Federal Government, although the MOD has stewardship of it.
The most recent figures available are:
1997 and the Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General on The Sale of the Married Quarters Estate dated 31 July 1997.
§ Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) pursuant to his answer of 11 July 2002,Official Report, column 1138W, how much has been received by the Exchequer under the Sale of Agreement profit share scheme with Annington Homes Limited in respect of former service families' accommodation in (a) Colchester and (b) England and Wales; and what the average share from sales of dwellings was in (i) Colchester and (ii) England and Wales; [73023]
(2) pursuant to his answer of 11 July 2002, Official Report, column 1138W, how many service families' accommodation units in England and Wales were sold to Annington Homes Limited; and what the average price per dwelling was;[73025]
(3) pursuant to his answer of 11 July 2002, Official Report, column 1138W, how much has been paid to Annington Homes Limited for family quarters in (a) England and Wales, (b) Colchester, (c) Scotland and 317W (d) Northern Ireland since the sale of service families' accommodation and the commencement of the leaseback agreement. [73024]
§ Dr. MoonieNo receipts from the profit share arrangements have so far been received for properties released at Colchester. 46 properties passed to Annington at the time of the sale in 1996 did not trigger a profit share payment when sold. A further release of 36 properties is expected to result in a receipt. But this has yet to be finalised.
More than 12,000 properties have been released to Annington to date. 8,716 properties have subsequently been sold by Annington. A proportion of these have triggered profit share payments totalling £44.92 million. The average profit share payment is thus £5,154.
The sale to Anningtons of 57,428 properties in England and Wales raised £1.662 billion for the Exchequer. The average price per dwelling was approximately £29,000.
Service families' accommodation in Scotland and Northern Ireland was not included in the sale to Annington. Since the sale in November 1996, Annington has received £665 million in rent for properties in England and Wales, including £16.5 million for family quarters in Colchester. The rent paid to Annington is discounted by 58 per cent. from the market value inter alia, to reflect the Ministry of Defence's continuing maintenance responsibility.
§ Mr. SoleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the(a) Defence Housing Executive and (b) Addington Housing Association are permitted to raise funds on the private market based on the rental income of his Department's properties. [73028]
§ Dr. MoonieIn 1996 most Service families' accommodation in England and Wales was sold to Annington Homes Limited (AHL). Under the Sale Agreement, the Ministry of Defence underleases properties from Annington Homes to meet Service requirements. The Defence Housing Executive (DHE), an Agency of the MOD, manages and maintains the underleased properties but does not receive any private sector funding so to do. Annington Homes Ltd is a commercial organisation, and I would suggest that my hon Friend contacts them directly for information about their financial arrangements. DHE also acquires a proportion of its new housing stock through Public Private Partnership arrangements for which its partners do raise funds on the commercial market.