State-of-the-art housing for returning soldiers » Housing » 24dash.com

A multimillion-pound accommodation unit was opened today at one of Europe's largest military garrisons.

More than £340 million has been spent at Catterick Garrison, in North Yorkshire, as part of a Government initiative to improve accommodation and provide soldiers with their own personal living space.

A total of 1,800 soldiers, returning from Germany in the Army's largest relocation for more than 20 years, will be housed in the new en-suite rooms.

The units have been built under the Single Living Accommodation Modernisation (SLAM) programme, which was created after a Strategic Defence Review in 1998 found that junior accommodation had been neglected and was in a bad state.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) expects to spend £8.4 billion on all living accommodation over the next 10 years.

Last year, an Independent Advisory Panel report found that accommodation at Catterick was "appalling" and urgently needed updating, while a recent survey of the Armed Forces revealed that 38% of soldiers were unhappy with their accommodation.

Today, soldiers from the 6,000-strong 4th Mechanized Brigade, who have been based in Osnabruck, in Germany, for the past 27 years, paraded at the formal opening ceremony of the Richmondshire Lines housing in the newly created Munster Barracks.

The troops, who recently returned from a six-month tour in Iraq, celebrated their homecoming in the rain as Kevan Jones, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for defence, unveiled a plaque in a courtyard in the centre of some of the four-storey accommodation blocks.

As the defence minister was shown around the new accommodation, soldiers spoke of the improvement to their living conditions.

The new rooms feature modern furniture, storage space and an en-suite bathroom with a shower and are similar to accommodation in university halls of residence.

Corporal Dave Haley said the new rooms were 100% better than their old multi-person accommodation.

Cpl Haley said: "You can go in and just relax in your own room. In our former rooms, with three or four guys, people were always coming in and out and there was no privacy."

He continued: "In the old blocks the hot water would run out, there was no pressure in the shower, heating would come on and come off."

Cpl Haley said good accommodation was very important for soldiers' morale.

"There's nothing better than to come home at the end of a working day to your own room and not be in each other's pockets," he said.

Speaking at the opening, Mr Jones, Durham North MP, said he would like to see this type of accommodation across the country.

He said: "What we've got here is the way forward. There are still problems but we've got to work those through."