‘Give armed forces the homes they deserve’, says MSP

An MSP has called on the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to urgently address poor quality housing for Britain’s armed forces after a new report revealed a collapse in satisfaction with soldiers’ accommodation.

The House of Commons Library briefing shows that fewer than half of regular personnel are satisfied with the overall standard of their accommodation, a nine percentage point drop from 2015 – with rent increases and substandard repairs driving concerns.

The briefing also finds that:

SNP MSP Gordon MacDonald, who has three army bases in his Edinburgh Pentlands constituency, said: “These are damning figures that expose how damaging the MoD’s cost-cutting approach to service personnel has been.

“It’s completely unacceptable for serving personnel to be kept in poor quality housing and to be left unhappy with the standard of repairs – and if this is allowed to continue, the MoD could find it harder to attract and retain troops.

“The MoD need to urgently address this – and give serving personnel the homes they deserve.”