• Llanelli MP Dame Nia Griffith hails Labour UK Government’s backing for forces families as 780 forces family homes in Wales set for a boost with landmark new legislation brought forward today.
• New Defence Housing Service to be put into law as the Armed Forces Bill is introduced to Parliament, turbocharging biggest renewal of military housing in a generation.
• UK Government also delivers on manifesto commitment to boost support for brave personnel as Armed Forces Covenant to be extended improving services for tens of thousands of serving personnel and veterans.
780 military homes across Wales will benefit from new legislation, newly introduced to Parliament, to create a new, publicly owned Defence Housing Service to renew tens of thousands of military homes and address years of underinvestment.
The new service is backed by Labour’s record £9bn Armed Forces Housing strategy to end the scandal of poor-quality military housing and build homes fit for heroes.
The legislation will establish the Defence Housing Service and turbocharge a generational renewal of nine in ten forces homes while kickstarting the development of 100,000 homes on surplus defence land, with personnel and veterans the first in line.
This announcement was made possible by Labour’s deal to bring 36,000 forces family homes back into public ownership earlier this year, including 780 homes in Wales. This ended a disastrous 1996 Tory privatisation of military housing which cost the taxpayer billions. Labour’s landmark buy-back saved over £200 million per year in rent payments, savings which are now being reinvested in fixing forces homes.
The Armed Forces Bill will also for the first time extend the Armed Forces Covenant across all areas of central government, devolved governments and local authorities – fulfilling a manifesto promise. This means social care, employment support and other public services will be legally required to consider the unique circumstances faced by forces personnel and their families.
The move will benefit hundreds of serving personnel in Wales and over 7,200 veterans in Carmarthenshire.
The plan delivers on Labour’s manifesto commitment to back Britain’s Armed Forces community after years of chronic underinvestment by the Conservatives drove down military morale driving many to leave the forces.
Confirming the major boost for local military families, Dame Nia Griffith, MP for Llanelli said:
“This new legislation will put forces and their families first, delivering the support that they rightly deserve.”
“Thousands of current and former service personnel will benefit from improved access to local services, delivering on our manifesto commitment, and through our new publicly-owned Defence Housing Service, we will be deliver the biggest boost to military homes in a generation.”