Troops may wait 20 years for better homes

LONDON - Some troops and their families could be stuck in "simply unacceptable" housing for 20 years due to cutbacks and slow renovation work, MPs said in a damning report on Thursday.

The influential Public Accounts Committee attacked defence chiefs for upgrading sports pitches while failing to make basic repairs to accommodation.

Faced with expensive deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, higher fuel costs and funding cuts, the Ministry of Defence has been forced to reduce its repair budget, it said.

"The state of a good deal of the living accommodation provided for our military personnel is simply unacceptable," said committee Chairman Edward Leigh.

"Nobody is saying it is inappropriate to offer a range of leisure facilities on site, but the department has to get its priorities straight.

"Let's mend the leaking roofs first and then worry about the state of the tennis courts."

The Ministry of Defence is Britain's second-biggest landowner, with an estate valued at 18 billion pounds. It cut 70 million pounds from its housing repairs budget in 2006-2007.

About 19,000 family homes for service personnel, 40 percent of the total, are substandard, the MPs said. More than half the 110,000 spaces for single people are below par.

The ministry plans to upgrade 900 family homes each year, which means it would take 20 years to complete the programme.

The MPs said defence chiefs must prioritise repairs to the worst homes and offer to rehouse families during the work.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary Nick Harvey said the record on military housing was "despicable".

"Has there ever been a government so quick to send its troops into battle, but so slow to reward them for their sacrifices?" he asked.

The Ministry of Defence had no immediate comment.