Satisfaction with military housing up, but DND still waiting on long-term plan

The level of satisfaction among military members living in government-run housing is up significantly in 2017, a recent study reveals, but an updated housing policy for the Canadian Forces is still more than a year away from becoming reality.

Overall, 80 per cent of the military tenants surveyed over the winter said they were very or somewhat satisfied with their homes. That’s up six points since the last check-in, conducted in 2014.

The results are good news for the Department of National Defence (DND), which has been working for over three decades to improve living conditions for the thousands of soldiers (and their families) who make their home on, or near, military bases.

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The survey was commissioned by the Canadian Forces Housing Agency (CFHA), which has been in charge of managing military housing since 1995. It was carried out in January and February by Environics Research, at a cost to taxpayers of just under $100,000.

“The survey findings reveal significant improvement in occupants’ satisfaction with their housing, as well as in their views about CFHA’s services and communications, suggesting that efforts over the past few years – to improve the housing stock and to address other sources of customer dissatisfaction – have made a difference,” the documents state.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The survey findings reveal significant improvement in occupants' satisfaction with their housing, as well as in their views about CFHA's services and communications, suggesting that efforts over the past few years - to improve the housing stock and to address other sources of customer dissatisfaction - have made a difference," the documents state.

There are still a few areas for improvement, the report adds, particularly when it comes to prompt communications with tenants. The CFHA is being encouraged to “make a push towards email (or other digital) communications with occupants,” rather than relying on paper.

New policy to launch in 2018

In early 2016, federal auditor general Michael Ferguson tabled a report that flagged several problems with how DND manages its housing stock. Ferguson said there may actually be too much housing based on the existing demand, that there’s no clear plan for modernizing existing houses, and that military housing is often offered at well below market rental rates.

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The auditor called on the department to do a full analysis of its true requirements and come up with a new housing policy.

“National Defence is spending millions on military housing without having clearly defined its needs,” Ferguson wrote.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "National Defence is spending millions on military housing without having clearly defined its needs," Ferguson wrote.

A spokesperson for DND confirmed this week that a preliminary review has since been completed, and a new housing policy is on track to be published this fall.

But it will take another year, until fall 2018, for that policy to actually be implemented.

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Across Canada, the federal government maintains about 12,000 homes for Canadian Forces personnel (and some other government employees) in 28 locations. The CFHA is responsible for allocating those houses and making sure the people living in them have all the supports they require.

In 2016, the last year for which data is available, DND took in about $93.5 million in rental revenue.

One of the main reasons that 15-20 per cent of military personnel choose DND housing (when they qualify) is that it tends to be cheaper.

A five-bedroom detached family home at CFB Esquimalt on Vancouver Island rents for $1,495 a month, for instance, while a two-bedroom row house can be as little as $863. In the Vancouver-area’s red-hot market, that’s a much more realistic option than renting or owning a home.

“The most commonly mentioned reason (for choosing their current home) is affordability,” the Environics study notes, with 63 per cent of respondents giving that answer.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The most commonly mentioned reason (for choosing their current home) is affordability," the Environics study notes, with 63 per cent of respondents giving that answer.

That’s way up from 46 per cent in 2014.

Government policy requires that Crown-owned housing be provided only when there’s a direct operational requirement, or when suitable housing is not available in the private housing market.

— With a file from the Canadian Press.