Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Goldie on 7 March (HL6243), what assessment they have made of the empty property figure of 20 per cent for Service Family Accommodation; and what steps they plan to take, if any, to reduce that figure.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises it has too many vacant Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties across the Defence estate. The current void SFA rate is 18% . The MOD aims to reduce this to no greater than 10% through an increase in occupation by Service Personnel and a targeted disposal plan.

Each year, approximately 15,000 Service Personnel and their families move for operational reasons; the MOD needs to retain vacant SFA to respond to this demand.