Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton and Will Quince

Monday 18th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince (Colchester) (Con)]

13. If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of using empty Ministry of Defence properties to house homeless veterans.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mark Lancaster)]

Ministry of Defence housing supports serving members of the armed forces and their families. A margin of unoccupied properties is retained, but housing that is no longer needed is released. We provide significant support to facilitate the transition to civilian life, and we have allocated £40 million from LIBOR fines to support projects providing veterans with accommodation, including £8.5 million for Mike Jackson House.

[Will Quince]

Colchester is a garrison town, and we currently have a number of MOD properties standing vacant. Will the Minister meet me to discuss how some of those properties could be used for temporary accommodation for military veterans?

[Mark Lancaster]

Approximately 10% of our service family accommodation is unoccupied, but we keep it at that level to ensure that we can cater for trickle postings and for people returning from overseas. I am not convinced that the use of service accommodation is a sustainable way of supporting veterans. However, there are a number of excellent projects around the country and I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend to discuss how we might pursue them in Colchester.