Single Living Accommodation is a key part of the overall employment ‘offer’ made to regular service personnel by the Ministry of Defence (the Department). Around 80,000 personnel, more than half of the Armed Forces, live in Single Living Accommodation. However, for many years it has not been given the attention it deserves, suffering neglect at times of wider pressures on the defence budget. A ‘fix on fail’ policy has led to a £1.5 billion maintenance and repairs backlog across all accommodation, including Single Living Accommodation. Although there is variation in the type and quality of accommodation provided, much of the estate is old, and as of 31 October 2020, 36% of personnel in Single Living Accommodation lived in the lowest-grade accommodation. Of these, 3% were not required to pay a rental charge because their accommodation was so poor. Amongst service personnel living in Single Living Accommodation, satisfaction with the overall standard of their accommodation has declined from 58% in 2015 to 49% in 2020, with some personnel experiencing problems with basic amenities such as hot water. Despite this, the Department is only spending a third of what the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors suggest is needed to maintain the estate. As we have previously reported, low levels of satisfaction with military accommodation risks reducing retention levels among service personnel.
Ultimately, a failure to look after armed forces personnel properly affects the ability of the services to deliver operational capability, yet the Department has taken the goodwill of service personnel for granted and has been complacent in how it has managed its Single Living Accommodation. There is no minimum standard for Single Living Accommodation, unlike for private or social housing, or for the Department’s own Service Family Accommodation. It does not have the data to make decisions on the use of Single Living Accommodation or how best to invest, as the Single Living Accommodation Management Information System, on which work started eight years ago, is still not functioning. There is also no single senior person with responsibility for Single Living Accommodation, limited coordination across the Commands and no clear departmental strategy. Commands have plans to invest £1.5 billion to upgrade accommodation over the next 10 years and intend to utilise some of the additional £16.5 billion in defence funding announced in November 2020. However, this extra funding seems to have already been spent more than once before it had even arrived with the Department, which raises questions about how much investment Single Living Accommodation will actually receive. A step change in management is needed if the Department is to meet the reasonable expectations of service personnel and be fit for the 21st century.
Published: 23 April 2021 Site information Accessibility statement