The men and women from Yorkshire and the Humber who serve in our military represent the best of Britain. And the very least they deserve is a safe and decent home.
Too often over the past 14 years, forces families in Yorkshire and the Humber were let down as the Tory government failed to invest in their housing. And this goes back further. In 1996 the Conservative Government under John Major sold off our military housing in one of the worst privatisation deals imaginable – selling off armed forces married quarters and renting them back at taxpayers’ expense.
By the time Labour entered Government, these rental payments had hit £600,000 a day, with homes run
down and left to rot. Private investors cashed in while families lost out.
So after six months in office, we announced the landmark buy-back of 36,000 homes, bringing forces’
family housing into public ownership where they belong.
Our Labour Government is prepared to step in when our national interest is at stake – just as we’ve done with British Steel. And our historic deal on military homes gives us the opportunity to stop the rot and start the renewal of an estate run down over decades. Bringing real benefits to families across Yorkshire and the Humber.
Our historic deal means we can kick-start change with a new Consumer Charter for forces families –
announced.
We will deliver the common-sense standards for military homes that any of us should expect. Tougher
requirements so that homes are clean and functional when families move in, reliable repairs when things
go wrong, named housing officers to help, an end to rules that ban families personalising and improving
their homes, and a new, simpler complaints process to sort out problems.
These are the basics on which forces families have been failed for years but where we will now act, with changes in place by the one-year anniversary of these homes being bought back.
We are a Government that is delivering for defence and for our Armed Forces. We are increasing defence
spending and using that money to back the brave service men and women who keep our nation safe.
Labour will renew the contract with those who serve and boost our national security as the foundation of our plan for change