Army barracks in York are to be upgraded by the government, it was announced today.
In her spring statement, Chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged to “secure better homes for thousands of military families” in areas including York Outer.
York Outer MP Luke Charters welcomed the investment, saying that some of the military accommodation he had seen in his constituency was “not good enough”.
He told YorkMix that he had been campaigning for increased defence spending, both to protect national security and grow the economy.
“I’ve also been campaigning for better military housing, and I’m really pleased that the Chancellor made a reference to securing better military accommodation in York Outer,” he said.
“I recently visited Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Strensall. I’ve been meeting some of the families directly that live in some of the military accommodation.
“We’ve got to do much better for our military heroes, and I’m so glad the Chancellor has set out on that additional investment that we all want to see.”
He said he was in positive talks with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation but couldn’t say more about the specifics as yet.
But the accommodation did need upgrading.
“Some of it that I’ve seen, and talking to my constituents, it’s not good enough.
“It’s not only those who serve, but it’s those families that they will often leave behind when they’re on an overseas operational deployment.
“It’s not good enough for those families, we’ve got to do better. I’ve heard lots of different horror stories, but I think we’re turning the tide.
“A lot of those homes were effectively privatised years and years ago. We brought them back into the MOD’s direct ownership. That will actively save money, and it will mean that we can come in and actually invest properly in those houses.”
He said anyone wanted help on this, they should get in touch with his team.