Service personnel want greater housing choice

A survey on the future of the Future Accommodation Model (FAM) has shown that service personnel want greater choice in deciding where they live.

Launched in August 2016, FAM aims to give personnel greater support in purchasing their own home through initiatives such as ‘Forces Help to Buy’, helping younger military personnel purchase their first home.

Offering a choice based on need, not age, rank or relationship status, the survey is part of an on-going consultation to inform the Ministry of Defence (MoD) accommodation policy development.

It highlighted that FAM is more attractive to junior officers and other ranks, when compared with senior officers, with half of all service personnel feeling that FAM is fairer than the current MoD accommodation offer.

Personnel consider the ability to live in good quality accommodation as the highest priority factor, and deem the choice of living in either a civilian or military community as the least. For married personnel, and those with children, the second most important factor was the opportunity to live with family and children.

Lieutenant General Richard Nugee, Chief of Defence People, said: “The Future Accommodation Model will ensure that our people are offered a greater choice in where they want to live. Over the coming months, we will refine how we do this and look to ensure that service personnel are engaged and listened to every step of the way. This survey will help us immeasurably to better understand what is important to personnel when it comes to where and how they live.”

A second tranche of the full data tables will be published in March.