You
will have heard the recent announcements in relation to the easing of
Covid-19 restrictions on moving house in England. These create the
conditions for people to move house with immediate effect within the
private and social housing market sectors if they so wish.
This,
together with recent TLB announcements on the phased regeneration of
Service personnel assignments from 1 July, provides the authority for
DIO Accommodation to recommence delivery of a timely SFA allocation
and move-in/out service. However, all questions in relation to
assignment dates, should be directed to the Service Manning
Authorities in the first instance.
We are working
closely with all TLBs, our Industry Partners Amey and Mears, and DE&S
who manage the Agility removals service to ensure that our service
delivery fully supports the Defence requirement. In essence,
Assignment Orders received prior to lockdown will remain valid,
albeit deferred by 3 months. Consequently, Service personnel who were
due to be assigned in April will be first to move in July,
followed by May movers in August, and June movers in September.
We
fully acknowledge that the 3 month delay will have impacted on family
circumstances, and may have an associated impact on pre-Covid-19
housing plans. Moreover, the Government announcement on moving home
in England provides scope for single Services to consider bringing
forward some moves within England to June. Taken together, these new
measures will require delivery plans to remain agile and adaptable.
DIO Accommodation will therefore continue to work closely with the
TLBs to ensure that SFA homes can be prepared, on time, to meet the
demand, and that the removals service is appropriately aligned.
Due
to the backlog of moves, our initial priority will be to meet the TLB
requirement for entitled Service family moves; this includes the call
forward of families where Service personnel have moved unaccompanied.
In due course, Amey and Mears will contact Service personnel to
discuss their move.
All other applications for SFA,
such as betterment moves, or those from cohabitating couples, will be
prioritised once the main moves for entitled personnel between July
and September have been met; this will allow the surplus SFA position
to be fully understood. However, we will consider Chain of Command
supported SFA applications from eligible personnel on a case by case
basis at any stage. In addition, all requests for retention of
existing SFA will be considered in line with extant policy.
DIO
and Amey will follow Government guidance on house moves to ensure the
safety and protection of all concerned.
This is a
complex and evolving situation for DIO and its Industry Partners to
manage, and one that requires careful handling throughout. We will
keep you fully informed of developments, and welcome your
understanding at what we expect to be a very busy time. We will keep
our FAQs updated to respond to queries and signpost to appropriate
support mechanisms.
