The first tranche of hundreds of new service family homes being built in Tidworth has been completed…
A total of 322 homes are being delivered by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) working with contractor Hills, as part of the Army Basing Programme (ABP).
The £73 million project at the Ashdown Estate is ahead of schedule with 35 properties now finished. The remaining 287 homes, still under construction, will be completed in clusters of around 40 houses over 7 phases during 2017, with the final homes ready for occupancy by service families in March 2018. The new houses will remove future reliance on rented properties in the area, creating a cost saving for the Ministry of Defence.
Neal Walters, DIO Project Manager, said: "I am impressed with the quality of the houses and speed of delivery. This project is a fantastic example of how we are working collaboratively with our contractor and investing in modern, first class accommodation for our service personnel and their families."
Lieutenant Colonel Polly Parrott, Requirements Manager for the ABP, said: "I am really pleased with the progression of the Service Family Accommodation being delivered at the Ashdown Estate. It’s incredibly important that we invest in our service personnel and their families. We want the best for our people and this investment at Tidworth will help to ensure that we are delivering first class living facilities."
Ryan Harris, Hills Project Director said: "Hills is incredibly proud and honoured to be working side-by-side with DIO to build homes for the service people who sacrifice themselves daily to defend our country."
The new homes are in addition to the £1.1 billion, announced last year, which is being invested by the MOD under the Project Allenby Connaught (PAC) contract, which will provide new technical and single living accommodation across Salisbury Plain. In addition 917 new homes are being built on MOD land at Bulford, Larkhill and Ludgershall to house service personnel and their families moving from Germany to Wiltshire under the ABP in 2019.