Written question asked by Nick Harvey (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 12 May 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 16 May 2006. It was answered by Derek Twigg (Labour) on Wednesday, 8 November 2006 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Service Accommodation

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of renting service accommodation for armed forces personnel in (a) 2004, (b) 2005 and (c) 2006.

Answer: The costs for service families’ accommodation in Great Britain were: 2003-04 £186 million; 2004-05 £195 million; and for 2005-06 £233 million. These figures include the cost of renting leased properties from Annington Homes Ltd., Substitute Service Families Accommodation and Substitute Single Service Accommodation. There is an occasional requirement in overseas locations for the Department to rent, on a short-term basis, accommodation for service personnel. The cost of this could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Secondary information