Annington Homes Explained

Annington Limited
Type:Subsidiary
Industry:Real estate
Predecessors:-->
Successors:-->
Founders:-->
Hq Location:London, UK
Areas Served:-->
Owners:-->
Parent:Terra Firma Capital Partners
Footnotes:[1] [2]

Annington Homes is a provider of privately rented homes in the United Kingdom,[3] specialising in converting former Ministry of Defence (MoD) housing for the general public since 1996.[4] Since 2012, the company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Terra Firma Capital Partners.[3]

In 1996, the MoD sold all its housing for military personnel and their families, 57,400 properties, to Annington Homes for £1.67bn as part of a broader process of privatisation of state assets, making Annington the largest owner of residential property in England and Wales.[3] Annington Homes had been established earlier that year as a shell company by Nomura Holdings; Nomura's Guy Hands played a central role in the deal.[3] The MoD lacked funds to maintain the properties, and intended to rent the homes from Annington at a discounted rate, while allowing the company to sell homes the armed forces no longer required.[3] The rent per house paid by the MoD nearly doubled between 1997 and 2016, and in 2016 the MoD paid dilapidations of £21,809 on average when returning homes to Annington.[3] As of 2017, around 20,000 of the 57,400 homes had been sold on.[3] Kevan Jones, who was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Veterans under Gordon Brown, described the MoD's deal with Annington as "an incredibly bad deal for the taxpayer."[3] Alan West, Baron West of Spithead, the former First Sea Lord, said the armed forces had failed to understand the long-term consequences of the deal at the time it was made.[3] In 2022, the MoD announced plans to use the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 to reverse the privatisation deal and return the properties to public ownership.[5] Terra Firma said it would challenge the decision in court.[5]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Directors Profile. 14 July 2020.
  2. Web site: Companies House Company Profile. 14 July 2020.
  3. Web site: How the MoD’s plan to privatise military housing ended in disaster. The Guardian. 25 April 2017. 2 December 2018. Holly. Watt.
  4. Web site: Empty MoD homes 'cost millions'. BBC. 6 March 2008. 2 December 2018.
  5. Web site: MoD seeks to buy back 38,000 homes leased from firm run by billionaire. 27 January 2022. 2 April 2022. The Guardian. Julia. Kollewe.