Army wives force MoD about-turn over housing

In January, the chairman of the Nato military committee warned of war with Russia within 20 years, and British forces are currently taking part in a Nato exercise representing the largest deployment of land forces to Nato since the height of the Cold War in 1984.

The Telegraph also understands that the MoD will not get extra funding in the Budget next month, despite military figures warning about the state of the Armed Forces.

A government source said the concerns about rank-based housing allocation would be the key area that the MoD would review, noting that it could impact the hierarchical nature of the military’s chain of command.

“By pressing pause, we are recognising the fabric of the military and the pressures and tensions of it,” said the source. “We need to make sure we work out the bits people aren’t happy about so that we can find some solution.”

The source said more research would be conducted with officers, as well as their families, after just 69 people were originally interviewed about the impact of the scheme.

They added that other parts of the plans would be continued with, including providing help when military personnel were moved to another base and with legal fees for first-time home-buyers.

“These people make the sacrifices they make and we are keen that they have a good standard of places to live – we don’t want people to be so unhappy they are leaving,” said the source.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “We are committed to widening entitlement to those in established long-term relationships and parents with non-resident children. 

“But we have listened to feedback and are therefore pausing the rollout of the elements of the policy related to service families’ accommodation, including the move to needs-based allocation and, in the short term, the widening of entitlement.”