As of 27 January 2020 the Ministry of Defence (MOD) currently has 8951 Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties vacant in England (20%), 850 properties in Scotland (27%) and 274 properties in Wales (25%). These figures represent a snapshot in time as the occupancy rate varies on a daily basis as Service families move in and out. The Department is focused on reducing the number of empty properties in the UK from the current level of 20% overall to a 10% management margin by Autumn 2021. This is being achieved by handing back vacant properties in England and Wales to Annington Homes; widening eligibility to cohabiting couples and Service leavers; and accelerating the letting of temporarily empty properties to screened members of the public at prevailing market rates.<\/p>
SFA are modernised as required to maintain them at a Decent Homes Standard (DHS). 97% of all SFA meet DHS as a minimum, and are, therefore, available for allocation to Service families. In the last financial year this resulted in approximately 3,800 homes receiving upgrades, including new kitchens and bathrooms.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4306", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Goldie"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Goldie"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-01-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-01-27T16:31:21.22Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "11"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-01-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Armed Forces: Empty Property"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Ministry of Defence dwellings are currently lying empty in each of (1) England, (2) Scotland, and (3) Wales; and what plans they have, if any, to modernise and re-let those dwellings.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2018", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Hylton"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Hylton"} ], "uin" : "HL319"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 1, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }