Ministry of Defence planning £4bn fire-sale of 91 sites across UK as it downsizes by 30 per cent
Huge saving will be re-invested in barracks and base facilities for troops and their families
NINETY-ONE MoD sites are to be sold, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced yesterday.
The Ministry controls a massive two percent of the entire UK, owning more than 568,000 acres and holding the rights over a further 548,573 acres.
But the MoD will have to reduce the size of its estate by 30 per cent by 2040 as part of a £4billion investment in bases and barracks for troops.
All profits from flogging land will go back into MoD coffers, it was confirmed.
The MoD hailed the shake up as the, "most significant to defence land since the Second World War.";
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: "We have been spending billions maintaining a defence estate that doesn’t meet the needs of our Armed Forces.
"This plan delivers an estate fit for our forces and their families.
"By putting money where it is needed, we will provide better facilities to train our Armed Forces and deliver more stability for military families.”
Under the plan Top Brass hope forces will not have to move bases as regularly.
While remote bases will be centralised in the heart of communities where forces and their families want to live.
Yesterday's (MON) announcement comes after Fallon last week announced over £1.1 billion in facilities on Salisbury Plain to for troops returning from Germany.
Under the new scheme more than 32,500 acres of excess defence land is being released, including ten surplus airfields and five golf courses.
The majority of the sites will go to property developers to relieve the housing crisis.