In 2020, the Government announced that £122m of addition funding would be made available to improve Service family accommodation across the UK, with a focus on improving the lived experience of families, whilst maintaining a value for money approach. Some properties received a full upgrade, while others saw smaller, but still significant upgrades with a minimum investment of £25,000 per property.
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With around £80m being made available for immediate spend, our teams quickly engaged with DIO and the MOD to ensure the funding was effectively managed, and to identify the properties that would benefit most from the upgrades, including properties that had been empty for several years.
In just five months, the first property was ready, and Cpl Angus of 1st Battalion the Mercian Regiment, his wife and three children were handed the keys to their newly refurbished home in Larkhill, Wiltshire – just in time for Christmas. Their home received a full upgrade, including a new roof, new windows and doors, external lights and some fencing. Internally, all walls and ceilings were re-plastered. A new kitchen, bathroom, downstairs toilet, heating pipework and radiators, boiler, electrical wiring and fittings and flooring were also installed, and new loft insulation and external wall insulation greatly increased thermal efficiency to save energy and reduce the family's heating bills.
Part of the funding has also been invested in refurbishing 60 children’s play areas as well as creating several entirely new play parks. Several roads on Service Family Accommodation (SFA) estates were also resurfaced.
