MoD to release 56 new sites

Defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon has announced the release of a further 56 Ministry of Defence sites by 2040. Speaking at the House of Commons, he said: “Since the beginning of this year, I have announced plans to dispose of 35 of our most costly sites.  “Today, based upon advice of chiefs of staff, I’m announcing the release of a further 56 sites by 2040.” In addition to sites in England, eight sites in Scotland, three in Wales and three in Northern Ireland will be sold off over the next 15 years. The specific sites were not listed.  Fallon said the estate strategy would bring “people and capabilities into new centres of specialism, clustering units closer to ther training estates”. The MoD has “firm plans” to release land with the capacity for 50,000 homes by the end of 2020.  “We will transform an estate built for previous generations of war-fighting into one which better supports our military capability and the needs of our armed forces,” Fallon said.  Some £4bn will be used to modernise housing for servicemen and women, he added.  The scale of the MoD estate currently extends to three times the size of greater London and costs the taxpayer £2.5bn a year to maintain. • To send feedback, e-mail louisa.clarence-smith@estatesgazette.com or tweet @LouisaClarence or @estatesgazette