Research and analysis

Understanding service personnel experiences of FHTB and exploring barriers to home ownership

Published 19 December 2022

List of Abbreviations

FAM - Future Accommodation Model

FHT - Forces Help to Buy

JPA - Joint Personnel Administration

MOD - Ministry of Defence

OF - Officer

OR - Other Rank

RAF - Royal Air Force

RM - Royal Marines

RN - Royal Navy

SFA - Service Family Accommodation

SLA - Single Living Accommodation

SP - Service Personnel

1. Executive Summary

The Forces Help to Buy (FHTB) pilot scheme was launched in April 2014 with the aim of supporting and encouraging homeownership amongst Service Personnel in the UK Armed Forces. Under FHTB, regular Service Personnel (SP) can borrow up to 50% of their gross annual salary (to a maximum of £25,000) to either buy their first home, move to another or, in exceptional circumstances, extend an existing property. FHTB is currently still in a pilot stage which was extended until 31 December 2022.

MOD designed a qualitative research project to understand SP experiences of FHTB pilot scheme and barriers to homeownership. The results of this research will help MOD understand how satisfied and dissatisfied SP are with FHTB scheme, why some SP are choosing not to purchase their own home and how MOD could support SP in buying their own home, including any areas of improvement to current policy.

This qualitative research consisted of 20-30 minute telephone interviews which took place during March 2022. In total, 43 one-to-one qualitative telephone interviews were completed through Microsoft Teams with a range of SP across the three Services, ranks and genders. Twenty-three of the interviews were completed with SP who had applied for, were paying back or had paid back FHTB to purchase a home. Twenty interviews were completed with those who do not own a home. The interviews were transcribed and analysed with assistance of machine learning through the programme Alteryx.

Whilst this research included a broad group of SP, these findings are not representative of the SP population who have used FHTB or who do not own a home, nor of the entire Armed Forces.

Key Conclusions

FHTB was seen as a good scheme that enabled SP to get on the property ladder through boosting the funds they had available. SP who did not own a home also saw FHTB as a scheme that would support them to purchase a home in the future and many were planning to use it.

SP thought to improve the scheme there could be:

• clearer communications between the applicant and MOD
• an easier and digitalised application process
• more flexibility in the scheme for individual circumstances
• an increase in the amount offered.

Barriers to homeownership for those who did not own a home were the costs involved in homeownership (particularly upfront costs), affordability of the current market and having to move job locations often (i.e., unsure where to purchase). Potential other support SP could be offered for homeownership included learning/education about the home buying process (tailored for SP) and support with other fees involved related to house buying (for example, solicitor fees).

Headline Findings

• SP chose to use FHTB to purchase a home as it gave them financial support to get on the property ladder. It enabled them to put down a larger deposit and some SP noted how this enabled them to get a mortgage, as well as getting a better mortgage deal. Also, SP frequently mentioned the loan being interest free was a major factor in using FHTB. Other positives described by SP were that the repayments were manageable and that the scheme gave SP financial security.
• If FHTB was not available, SP would have delayed their home purchase to save more money, looked at purchasing a different property or stretched/reprioritised their budgets.
• Those who did not own a home felt FHTB could support them to purchase a home in the future as it would boost their deposit, thus enabling them to get on the property ladder, and it would also help them to get a mortgage and a better mortgage deal. They also mentioned the loan being interest free as a benefit to using the scheme. If FHTB was not available, those who do not own a home would have to delay their plans to purchase a home even longer in order to save more money or some felt it would not be feasible to afford a property and would not aim to purchase a home.
• SP felt the FHTB scheme was a benefit and a financial incentive of being part of the Armed Forces but was not a driver to stay in the Armed Forces. Some SP mentioned that there were other factors such as job satisfaction and mental health which were more important drivers in determining whether they would choose to stay or leave the Armed Forces, others commented that they did not plan to leave anyway.
• SP who had used the FHTB scheme to purchase a home found the initial paperwork and start of the process easy and straightforward. However, SP commonly experienced a lack of clear communication between themselves (and sometimes their solicitors) and MOD after their initial application. They were often unsure as to what stage their application was at and were also unable to get quick and clear answers to queries. This sometimes led to delays in moving forward with the purchase and having to go back and forth between solicitors. Some SP mentioned their frustration with some of the processes not being online, e.g., having to print documents and get signatures, using fax machines and sending physical letters.
• SP suggested the FHTB scheme could be improved through better communication channels and by enabling applications to be digitalised. Specifically, SP suggested having one generic email mailbox for questions and an online portal for application tracking. Some SP also felt the policy could be improved by being more flexible to individual circumstances, i.e., SP going through a divorce and wanting to purchase a different home, etc.
• A few SP mentioned that the amount offered could be increased, due to the current housing market and affordability of housing, particularly in the South of England. It was also noted for some, that the amount offered under FHTB (50% of their salary) may not be enough support for home buying given the perceived unaffordability of housing. Those that did not own a home felt that FHTB could be better promoted and workshops could be held to learn more about the scheme.
• Those who had purchased a home found the initial step of deciding to purchase easy. Some SP also found the paperwork and getting mortgages online to be relatively easy. However, frequently SP mentioned difficulties with how long the whole home buying process takes and the waiting involved. Those who had not purchased a home were most concerned about the costs involved in the home buying process such as the deposit, being offered a large enough mortgage and the cost of solicitor fees. There was also varying levels of knowledge and uncertainty surrounding the steps involved in the home buying process.
• Having to move job location frequently was seen as a barrier to homeownership by some SP who had not yet purchased a home. SP described being unsure about which area might be best to purchase given uncertainty around future job postings and how frequently they move job locations. Some SP also mentioned that the current affordability of the market was also a barrier to homeownership particularly in the South of England, as house prices were viewed as unaffordable. Although it was recognised this is not military specific. Some SP who did not own a home also mentioned that the costs involved with home buying were a barrier which included the upfront costs of having a large enough deposit and being able to get a large enough mortgage.
• Reasons why some SP had purchased homes, included: they were ready financially; they wanted stability for themselves and their family where applicable; and they had found a location where they wanted to purchase. SP who did not own a home were all considering homeownership either in the next year or two, or further into the future. This was because: they would like to settle in an area and have stability for themselves and their family where applicable; they wanted to have a home that was theirs; and to make that financial investment of getting on the property ladder.
• Most SP were unaware of any other support MOD offered for homeownership other than FHTB. Some mentioned the Future Accommodation Model but were unsure of what MOD offered in terms of homeownership.
• Further home purchasing support MOD could potentially offer SP included: workshops/face-to-face engagement on homebuying; advisors (such as mortgage or financial) coming to the base; and online learning about the process. SP who are first-time buyers also saw the reimbursement of solicitor fees, as being trialled in the FAM pilot, as welcomed extra support. Some SP who had used the FHTB scheme to purchase a home suggested that extending the FHTB loan to include refurbishing or extending their home could be offered, not just in extenuating circumstances but more widely. Alternatively, SP suggested perhaps MOD could also offer a separate, smaller loan scheme to help support home refurbishment.

2. Introduction and Purpose

2.1 Introduction

The Forces Help to Buy (FHTB) pilot scheme was launched in April 2014 with the aim of supporting and encouraging homeownership amongst Service Personnel whose level of homeownership has historically been lower than the rest of the UK population. It replaced the Long Service Advance of Pay which had a maximum borrowing allowance of £8,500. Under FHTB, regular Service Personnel can borrow up to 50% of their gross annual salary (to a maximum of £25,000) to buy their first home, move to another or, in exceptional circumstances, extend an existing property. Since the scheme began, payments have been made to 27,079 applicants and at least 95% of these payments have already resulted in a purchased property or extension as of March 2022 (Ministry of Defence, 2022). To find out more about the scheme visit Forces Help to Buy Guidance.

FHTB is currently still in the pilot stage, which was extended to 31 December 2022.

2.2 Purpose of the research

Detailed, comprehensive data on SP’s experiences of FHTB and homeownership is currently lacking across Defence. The requirement for information about FHTB from the users (or potential users) perspective is fundamental to ensuring that the FHTB scheme provided by Defence meets the expectations, wants and needs of the SP, whilst fulfilling the commitment to support and encourage homeownership. No previous research has captured in-depth findings of SP’s experiences of using FHTB and barriers to SP owning their own home. The results of this research will help MOD to understand how satisfied or dissatisfied SP are with FHTB, why SP are not purchasing their own home, how MOD could support SP in buying their own home (including any areas of improvement to current policy and processes), and whether FHTB is aiding or could aid retention.

3. Research Objectives and Methods

3.1 Research questions

Research questions were developed by the Research Team, working in collaboration with MOD Accommodation Policy Team, to understand the current evidence gaps and their requirements from the research. The research aimed to answer the following research questions:

Primary research questions

1. What are the barriers to homeownership for Service Personnel?
2. What are the experiences of Service Personnel who have previously, or who are currently using the Forces Help to Buy scheme?

Secondary research questions

1. What could MOD do to support Service Personnel to purchase a home?
2. What are the views of Service Personnel on the support currently available from MOD to purchase a home?
3. What could be improved about the Forces Help to Buy scheme?
4. Why have Service Personnel chosen to use the Forces Help to Buy scheme?
5. What have been the benefits to Service Personnel of the Forces Help to Buy scheme?
6. What influences Service Personnel to purchase a home?
7. Does the Forces Help to Buy scheme impact Service Personnel’s plans to stay in the Armed Forces?
8. What are Service Personnel’s experiences of the administrative process of accessing the Forces Help to Buy scheme?

3.2 Research Methods

Qualitative research methods were used to explore the experiences of SP who have used FHTB, as well as to better understand the barriers for SP to homeownership.

Qualitative research was preferred over quantitative methods as it:

• Allowed for deeper investigation of input shared by research participants through qualitative interviewing and engagement techniques such as probing (asking follow-up questions to a participants answer) and laddering (asking a series of questions to identify order of decision making) to gain a deeper understanding of the topic (Roller & Lavrakas, 2015). This meant that during research collection, the moderator could ask follow up questions, for example asking why participants felt a certain way about their FHTB experience.
• Delivered a different approach from quantitative survey-based research, which have historically sometimes attracted fairly low response and low participation rates across MOD.

Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured telephone interviews based around a discussion guide, as this delivered breadth and depth to answer the research questions. Telephone interviews were selected as, compared to face to face interviews, they are less intrusive and confer greater power and control to interviewees in terms of negotiating interview times to suit their schedules (Drabble, Trocki, Salcedo, Walker, & Korcha, 2016). Also, every SP has access to a telephone, thus avoiding the need to use MOD technology that some SP have only limited access to. Interviews were prefered over focus groups as the topic of homeownership could be more senstive for some particpants, who may therefore feel uneasy about discussing their feelings openly and honestly in front of each other (Morgan, 1998). Therefore, telephone interviews helped improve response rates and allowed us to gain a deeper understanding of the topic area.

The research is qualitative, and as such is limited in the breadth of coverage, and whilst the research insights represent a range of SP views and provide informed outputs, this research is not representative of the SP population who have experiences with FHTB and those who do not own a home. The research will also not be reflective of the entire Armed Forces (Atieno, 2009).

3.2.1 Sampling

The research sample was based on data in MOD Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system that was extracted in February 2022. This data extract provided profiling information of the SP population and was used to design the research sample.

The research sample focussed on two groups, and collecting the views of these two groups would help improve the understanding of any required improvements or considerations to the FHTB scheme and homeownership:

• Group 1: those who had applied for, were currently paying back or had paid back a FHTB loan
• Group 2: those who do not currently own a home (can include those that have previously owned and sold a home)

A stratified non-probability/quota sampling approach was applied to the research. In stratified non-probability/quota sampling, a research population (who in this research had volunteered to participate) is grouped into mutually exclusive smaller groups, and then professional judgment is used to select the participants from each of the smaller groups based on a specified proportion. This means that certain participants can be targeted for participation, and as such not everyone in the population or the sub-group will have an equal or random chance of being invited to participate.

The sample was stratified by:

• Gender (Male or Female)
• Rank (Officer or Other Rank)
• Service (Royal Navy/Royal Marines, Army, Royal Air Force)
• FHTB status (Group 1 or Group 2)

3.2.2 Research Recruitment and Participation

Participation in the research programme was voluntary and participants completed and signed a consent form that was returned electronically in advance of their research session. The consent form explicitly required participants to ‘opt in’ to each element of the data collection and to confirm their understanding that the data would be anonymised, analysed in aggregate and released into the public domain.

The recruitment approach for the research is outlined below:

• The research was advertised via internal MOD communications, interested SP were asked to email a mailbox to register their interest, providing their name and Service Number.
• Following the expression of interest, SP were screened using JPA data and potential participants were emailed an information sheet, a consent form (to review and sign) and a discussion date and time slot. The consent forms were signed and returned, and SP would confirm if they could make the date and time; if they could not, the research team would arrange for a more convenient time.
• Calendar invites were sent to SP with details on how to join the discussion.
• Participants were free to withdraw at any point up to the data collection session, participants also had the option for their input to be withdrawn from the data set containing individual and pseudonymised inputs within two weeks from that data collection session.
• Participants were also informed that anything shared would be anonymised, unidentifiable, and reported in aggregate.
• Participation incentives were not offered.

Potential limitations noted in the recruitment and participation were that:

• sample recruitment was self-selecting, as participants volunteered themselves to take part
• those who completed interviews were based on participant availability (availability bias)
• the sample was filled on a first come, first served basis within the quotas set.

3.2.3 Data Collection

The telephone interviews lasted between 20-30 minutes, where participants responded to questions from a researcher. Each telephone discussion was completed by one Government Social Researcher, with a second Government Social Researcher present for 15 discussions for quality assurance purposes. They were conducted using Microsoft Teams, where participants joined through either using a meeting link, or dialled into the meeting using a telephone/mobile. Where participants felt comfortable to do so, they provided their number and the moderator dialled them into the discussion. The discussions were audio recorded and transcribed through Microsoft Teams, these transcripts were pseudonymised removing all names by the research team and checked for quality purposes against the recording.

Data collection took place during March 2022 and delivered a total of 43 interviews: 23 of the interviews were completed with group 1 (have used FHTB scheme), and 20 SP in group 2 (do not own a home). The tables 1, 2 and 3 show the target and achieved samples.

Table 1: Group 1 target against achieved sample

	Target sample	Achieved sample
RN/RM OF	2	2
RN/RM OR	4	4
Army OF	2	2
Army OR	8	9
RAF OF	2	3
RAF OR	4	3
Total	22	23

Table 2: Group 2 target against achieved sample

	Target sample	Achieved sample
RN/RM OF	2	3
RN/RM OR	4	3
Army OF	2	2
Army OR	4	4
RAF OF	2	3
RAF OR	4	5
Total	18	20

Table 3: Achieved sample by gender

	Group 1	Group 2
Female	6	5
Male	17	15
Total	23	20

Sample targets were set to reflect the regular Armed Forces population as a whole, whilst each Service and rank group had a minimum of 6 in each group to help ensure research saturation was met for each group. This was to enable identification of any differences between the groups, if applicable. Some groups were overachieved due to overscheduling of interviews to account for ‘no-shows’. Therefore, it is noted that this may slightly bias the results in favour of the oversampled groups potentially, but it is not thought that this would have a noticeable impact on the results given the qualitative in-depth nature of the research and the fact that the research findings are not intending to be reflective of the entire Armed Forces.

3.2.4 Analysis

The analysis approach to the research used was qualitative content/thematic analysis aided by machine learning. Thematic analysis is aimed at systematically describing the meaning of qualitative input by assigning successive parts of the material to the categories of a coding frame, meaning themes (codes) were identified from the data. It has 3 core characteristics: qualitative content analysis reduces data (reductive), it is systematic, and it is flexible (Schreier, 2014).

The telephone discussions were analysed using the Machine Learning tools available through the Alteryx Intelligence Suite. The Machine Learning speeds up the manual processing of cleansing/cleaning the data, coding and assigning themes to the qualitative input.

The Machine Learning conducted the following processes:

• Sentiment Analysis: Assign a positive/neutral/negative sentiment to the original text input.
• Data preparation: Lemmatize the original text input (sort by grouping inflected or variant forms of the same word, ensuring consistent review of the text) and remove StopWords (common English language words which do not add much meaning and can safely be ignored without sacrificing the meaning of the sentence) and creating modified/prepared data.
• Data preparation: modified/prepared data was analysed and counted (coded), the now coded mentions were appended to the original text input.
• Topic Modelling: The statistical model applied by the Machine Learning identified patterns of word usage, then clustered those words into topics and helped organise and offer insights in understanding the unstructured text.

The output was reviewed at participant level (each participant entry) and thematic level (all data which related to a specific theme) to identify the themes from the research and for quality control purposes. After reviewing the output to understand the data, the research team assigned themes to the outputs.

The output from this process was the original text input appended with:

• Sentiment Analysis – positive/neutral/negative
• Coded mentions of popular words, e.g., payments, administration
• Topic Models – topic groups assigned by machine learning
• Themes – assigned by research team

3.2.5 Quality Assurance

Quality assurance processes were applied throughout the research project. At the start of the project, the research proposal was reviewed by the Navy Scientific Advisory Committee, who approved the research to go ahead (Reference FHtB_Survey-SAC_r/v_2). A Data Protection Impact Assessment was also completed and reviewed to ensure MOD standards were met.

Discussion guides for the telephone interviews were reviewed and refined iteratively by the Research Team and policy stakeholders. This enabled a shared contextual understanding of the research topic to ensure the research methodologies addressed the primary and secondary research questions.

A second Government Social Researcher attended 15 of the 43 telephone discussions for quality assurance purposes and ensure they were running as planned (to Government Social Research standards), as well as offering any feedback on the discussions and how to improve them. All outputs from the interviews were transcribed, each transcript was checked against the discussion recording for accuracy before the data analysis began.

The themes created through the data analysis were quality assured by two other researchers who read the same 6 transcripts (3 from the FHTB sample and 3 from the sample of those who did not own a home) and identified themes independently. A workshop was held to discuss the themes the two researchers had identified and compare them to the themes identified from the analysis process. This was to ensure the themes identified through the machine learning and research analysis were a true reflection of the data collected.

The final report went through several repetitions and was quality assured by both a Government Social Researcher in the team, and two Government Social Researchers external to the Accommodation Team, but within the wider MOD. This is to ensure the report met MOD and Government Social Research Profession standards.

4. Findings

4.1 Forces Help to Buy

4.1.1 How does Forces Help to Buy support Service Personnel to purchase a home?

This section addresses the following research questions:

• What are the experiences of Service Personnel who have previously, or who are currently using the Forces Help to Buy scheme?
• Why have Service Personnel chosen to use the Forces Help to Buy scheme?
• What have been the benefits to Service Personnel of the Forces Help to Buy scheme? ​

SP who had purchased a home using FHTB considered the scheme at the very start of the home buying process. Many mentioned that the scheme boosted their available funds, and they were able to put down a bigger deposit to purchase their home, as well as some mentioning that they had extra leeway around other fees such as solicitor fees.

Because it enabled me to get on the market and I wanted to move into our house and out of married quarters. But I mean it was it was £25,000 towards the deposit which hugely changes, you know, the size of property and the affordability of the property [Royal Navy/Royal Marine, Other Rank, Group 1, Male]

I mean, it allowed me to keep enough sort of liquid money, therefore, if there were any surprises as well. So I, you know, I could over budget on the legal fees…it gave me some sort of flexibility there where I knew that I could effectively subtract the amount of the Forces Help to Buy from the other money that was available [Royal Navy/Royal Marine, Officer, Group 1, Male]

Some SP mentioned that having bigger deposits had enabled them to get a mortgage as they had then met the minimum deposit requirements. Others mentioned they were able to get a better mortgage deal from putting down a larger deposit.

We were looking during the 2020 so like [you needed] 10% deposits, you know, and some mortgages they wanted bigger deposits so that [FHTB] kind of helped [Army, Other Rank, Group 1, Male]

Many SP who had used FHTB also noted the interest-free status of the loan as a reason to use the scheme, as it was seen as a benefit. Some SP also mentioned that the repayments were manageable and easy as it came straight out of their salary, which was another reason for using FHTB.

It was interest-free and when we sat down and worked out all the figures, I think I ended up paying back about I think I put £10,000 and I was paying back £100 a month…it is very convenient that it came out you know before my wage…it was really, really good [Army, Other Rank, Group 1, Male]

The fact that we’re paying back interest-free, that’s a huge benefit, I didn’t consider the Government help to buy because the government [help to] buy is the same as the Forces Help to Buy but the Forces is specific to us and there are a few subtle differences [Royal Navy/Royal Marine, Other Rank, Group 1, Male]

SP also expressed that FHTB is a good scheme overall and it enables SP to get onto the property market. If FHTB was not available, most SP would have delayed purchasing a home to save up more money to cover what FHTB would have provided.

It probably would have delayed it even further to so that we could have to save for the money up. It definitely would have made it more stressful to afford a house and we wouldn’t be able to get in the property that we’re in now [Royal Navy/Royal Marine, Officer, Group 1, Female]

Some mentioned that they would have considered buying a different, smaller house that they could afford without FHTB in order to have purchased a property.

I still would have bought a house, but I probably would have bought a lot smaller property. I probably would only have been able to afford a one-bedroom flat or something [Royal Air Force, Other Rank, Group 1, Female]

A few SP mentioned reprioritising or stretching their budgets to be able to make the house purchase, for example, using some money they had saved for renovations.

I think it will essentially [have] eaten into our renovation fund…it just meant we had to find the money elsewhere and re-prioritise what we wanted to do and down scope stuff. [Army, Officer, Group 1, Male]

Similarly, SP who did not own a home felt FHTB was something that can support them to purchase a home, because it will boost their deposit enabling them to get on the property ladder and for many, they would currently not be able to do it without these extra funds.

Buying a home, paying a mortgage for me, it’s easy. It’s the deposit that is the problem so without the Forces Help to Buy, if I can’t get the deposit, I don’t think I’ll be able to own a home [Army, Other Rank, Group 2, Female]

Some SP mentioned how they would be able to get a better mortgage deal from having a larger deposit, which will make the mortgage repayments more manageable. Most SP also mentioned the loan being interest-free as a benefit to using the scheme.

If I had a roughly £25,000 deposit and then got Forces Help to Buy that would be a 30% sort of deposit on a house like which means that the mortgage repayments would be more than manageable, so like £300 a month which would be fantastic. So, although you are getting the Forces Help to Buy deducted and I think it’s better in the long run [Royal Air Force, Other Rank, Group 2, Male]

If FHTB was not available, those who do not own a home will have to significantly delay their plans to purchase a home to save up more money, with some SP noting it will take several years until they could purchase a home. Or some SP simply saw it as unfeasible to afford a property and would not consider, or look to, purchase a home.

I think it would probably postpone my home buying process by at least a couple more years, so I think if the process [FHTB] is in place then within two years I’ll definitely be in a good place… the concern is that it will be 5-6 years down the line and I’m still in the same position where I still don’t feel like I can afford it and what could have helped is actually just having the Forces Help to Buy scheme in place at that initial first sort of attempt [Army, Officer, Group 2, Female]

It would take a while to save up, but yeah, it could significantly delay our plans. So if it wasn’t available, but yeah, the bottom line we probably wouldn’t buy [Royal Navy/Royal Marine, Officer, Group 2, Male]

4.1.2 Forces Help to Buy application experience

This section addresses the following research questions:

• What are the experiences of Service Personnel who have previously, or who are currently using the Forces Help to Buy scheme?
• What are Service Personnel experiences of the administrative process of accessing the Forces Help to Buy scheme?

SP who had used the FHTB scheme to purchase a home found the initial application paperwork and start of the application process easy and straightforward. SP also mentioned that the repayments of the FHTB loan were easy and not a burden, noting how the money came straight out of their salary.

I thought it was really easy, it’s quite a self-explanatory form. You just need to look at it, write down the information you need, go away, get that and then from there it probably took me about 10-15 minutes to sort out [Army, Other Rank, Group 1, Male]

However, many SP experienced a lack of clear communication between themselves, sometimes their solicitors, and MOD FHTB team. They were often unsure at what stage their application was, whether they were actually going to receive the money and confirmation on how much this amount would be. They were also unable to get quick and clear answers to queries from MOD FHTB team. This sometimes led to delays in moving forward with the purchase and having to go back and forth between solicitors. Some SP mentioned frustration with some of the processes not being online, for example, having to print documents and get signatures, using fax machines, and sending physical letters.

The thing that made us the most twitchy was the fact that the Forces Help to Buy wouldn’t guarantee that money until the day of completion, so the solicitors were then saying well, are you definitely getting your Forces Help to Buy? I was like I can’t ring anybody, I can’t talk to anybody [Royal Air Force, Other Rank, Group 2, Female]

My specific problem with the system was the Forces Help to Buy scheme had notified me that I was going to be or I applied for sort of £20,000, that I was told that I was entitled to and then I received about £10,000 and there was zero communication…the bank, the solicitor, everything was agreed and it was literally exchange of contracts time [Royal Air Force, Officer, Group 1, Male]

Going through the process is quite emotionally draining in a way, because you just didn’t get the answers and the solicitors that, you’re always back and forth with solicitors and Forces Help to Buy for stuff, Forces Help to Buy aren’t coming back to you. So, you having to chase it for them, so you can’t get hold of Forces Help to Buy [Royal Air Force, Officer, Group 1, Male]

4.1.3 Forces Help to Buy impact on retention

This section addresses the following research questions:

• Does the Forces Help to Buy scheme impact Service Personnel plans to stay in the Armed Forces?

SP from both group 1 and group 2 felt the FHTB scheme was a benefit and a financial incentive of being in the Armed Forces, but was not a key driver to stay in the Armed Forces. Some SP mentioned that they did not plan to leave the Armed Forces anyway, so FHTB was not impacting their plans. Others mentioned that if they are to leave, they plan to use the gratuity or pension to pay off their loan. Some SP mentioned that job satisfaction and mental health was more of a driver to determine staying or leaving the Armed Forces.

It doesn’t affect me no I think because I’ve got to a point where I could leave with a small pension, so I’ll be able to pay that off straight away. So, it wouldn’t really affect me having that debt when I left [Royal Air Force, Officer, Group 1, Male]

But much like any of the benefits…this is just another one of those. It’s a significant one because you know, buying the first house is quite a big deal… it’s definitely an incentive to stay in and I think if it would go away that wouldn’t, you know, cause me to sign off immediately or anything [Army, Officer, Group 2, Female]

4.1.4 Areas of improvement

This section addresses the following research questions:

• What could be improved about the Forces Help to Buy scheme?

SP suggested the FHTB scheme could be improved through better communication channels with MOD, which would enable SP to access help with applying for FHTB and to ask questions or queries throughout the application process (for example, one generic email mailbox for FHTB questions to be sent to and dealt with). Some SP also suggested that the application could be completely digitalised to make applications easier and smoother, such as an online portal for application tracking.

I think it’s just if everything is electronic, I think it [would] be easier to be honest, but it’s a very good scheme just needs to sort out on the communication side of it and the process just needs to be more sort of 21st century [Royal Navy/Royal Marine, Other Rank, Group 1, Male]

Some SP also felt the policy could be improved by being more flexible and understanding of individual circumstances. For example, changing who they allow to receive the loan and whether SP can sell their home whilst still paying back the FHTB loan, such as SP going through a divorce and wanting to purchase a different home.

Living where my ex-wife is living in a house that I no longer particularly want to be sat in alone. After what’s happened, I think there’s just probably some work on the restrictions and that if there is leeway within the main restrictions…and you know probably like if it just says all old circumstance changes will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis [Army, Other Rank, Group 1, Male]

The human behind the policy and if people have genuinely got a reason where they want to sell their house, then they should be given the right to do so…I think it maybe should have additional stuff in there, like personal circumstances [Army, Other Rank, Group 1, Male]

A few SP from groups 1 and 2, mentioned that the amount offered via the loan could be increased, particularly due to the current housing market and affordability of housing in the South of England. It was also noted that for some, 50% of their salary (the maximum SP can borrow up to £25,000) may not be that supportive for home buying, given the affordability of housing in the current market.

The black and white doesn’t cater for everything that I think the award is trying to help people with…for an individual that’s got 30 years in the service that wants to buy a house for their family in one of the most expensive parts of the UK, then you’d like to think that the system would be good to support them [Royal Air Force, Officer, Group 1, Male]

I think having this rule that it’s up to 50% of your salary like it’s really useful, but for some people, for others not so much. Half of some people’s salaries isn’t very much money [compared to] what the average property deposit is in a particular area [Royal Navy/Royal Marine, Officer, Group 2, Male]

4.2 Homeownership

4.2.1 Why do Service Personnel purchase homes?

This section addresses the following research questions:

• What influences Service Personnel to purchase a home?

There were several reasons stated for SP wanting to purchase a home. These included that they were ready financially as they had sufficient funds for the deposit and other costs involved in home buying. SP also wanted to purchase a home because they wanted stability for themselves and their family, where applicable, by settling in a specific area.

The circumstances were right for me, so I was on my own, I had enough cash to be able to do it [Army, OR, Group 1, Male]

I wanted stability for my family…wasn’t entirely happy with the quick moves. One for the fact that the family didn’t have stability, or the kids won’t have identity…I wanted my kids to have that ‘ok I am from this place’ if they’re asked [Army, OR, Group 1, Male]

Some SP mentioned they decided to buy a home as they had found a geographic location they wanted to purchase in and live in that location. A few SP also mentioned that they no longer wanted to live in service accommodation as what was provided was no longer suitable, nor did not meet their (or their family’s) needs.

The SFA that we got was it wasn’t a really, really bad, but it just didn’t meet our needs like we couldn’t put our sofas in the living room. So, I think it’s all I think we was upset with the house and its sort of forced our hand at that point [Army, Other Rank, Group 1, Male]

And basically the biggest draw for me at the time was it was away from the beaten track and it’s a beautiful location that was the most important factor [Royal Navy/Royal Marine, Other Rank, Group 1, Male]

SP who did not own a home were all considering homeownership either in the next year or two, or further in the future. This was because some SP would like to settle in an area and have stability for themselves and their family, where applicable. Some SP also mentioned they would like to own their own home and make that financial investment of getting on the property ladder.

It’s my son starting school this year, so within the next 10 years for stability for my son so in terms of education [and] stability for my wife in terms of employment [Royal Navy/Royal Marine, Officer, Group 2, Male]

It would be nice to have our own home and to put our own stamp on it and to have a, you know, an investment in that sense [Army, Other Rank, Group 2, Female]

4.2.2 Barriers to homeownership for Service Personnel

This section addresses the following research questions:

• What are the barriers to homeownership for Service Personnel?

Those SP who had purchased a home found the first initial step of deciding that they wanted to purchase a home easy and then finding a home they wanted to buy. Some SP also noted the paperwork involved and getting mortgages online was easy.

When we went and viewed the property, we said we want this one that was definitely the easiest bit and I don’t think anything else was easy particularly [Royal Air Force, Other Rank, Group 1, Female]

However, some SP mentioned difficulties with how long the whole home buying process takes and the waiting involved in the home buying process in general, e.g., having to sort the legal documents and complete searches. Some also expressed difficulties with communications between all those involved in the house buying process including solicitors, builders, developers and the FHTB team as mentioned in section 4.1.2.

There are two bits I think - dealing with the solicitor is quite difficult and I suppose in relevance to our conversation today, how the Forces Help to Buy tied in with the solicitor. That was quite difficult and just the length of time it took… the person I was buying from threatened to pull…because they were frustrated by the time it was taken [Army, Officer, Group 1, Female]

Those SP in group 2 were most concerned about the costs involved in the home buying process generally, such as the deposit, having a large enough mortgage and solicitor fees. There was also a mix of knowledge and uncertainty of the steps in the home buying process. Most SP knew about finding a house, working out how much you can afford and looking at mortgages, however, most were more unclear on the other steps involved in purchasing a house.

It’s just a cost, isn’t it? So if there were for instance, apparently solicitors maybe take like another 2 to 3 grand on top of whatever you’re going to put down as a deposit and then there’s obviously a is it a Land Registry? I’d I don’t know that other costs associated with it, so you have to kind of like take those into [consideration] [Royal Air Force, Other Rank, Group 2, Male]

I’m aware, build up a deposit of some description and then approach either sort of like a Bank or an equivalent for a mortgage…once you’ve got that you can approach estate agents in the area that you want and they will help you decide on a house. So then once you’ve kind of got one in mind, you can purchase a surveyor to go out and check it…Then I think, uh probably go a bit fuzzy [Royal Air Force, Other Rank, Group 2, Male]

Having to move job location often for SPs roles and being part of the Services was seen as a barrier to homeownership by some SP in group 2. This is because they were unsure which geographic location might be best to purchase in, given uncertainty around future service job postings.

Ultimately the location, where would I buy a house, because I am required to move jobs every two years in the branch, I mean, uh, I theoretically could be anywhere in the country… so my real issue is because of the nature of my branch, uh, where I would buy a property so as to actually have a family, a normal, a semi normal family life, it’s very difficult [Royal Navy/Royal Marine, Officer, Group 2, Male]

Some SP mentioned the current affordability of the market was also a barrier to homeownership, particularly in the South of England, as house prices were viewed as unaffordable. Although it was recognised this is not military specific.

It would take so long to save enough money to buy property that would be in a good location for work because the area where there are a lot of Army bases are in the South of England are so expensive, so that’s probably the biggest [thing] [Army, Officer, Group 2, Female]

Some SP who did not own a home also mentioned that the costs involved with home buying were a barrier, which included the upfront costs of having a large enough deposit, including to meet minimum mortgage requirements, and being able to get a large enough mortgage based on their current salary.

The only thing for me is obviously at again sort of like a salary, banks tend to lend I think three to four times your salary. So, if I’m on say at a nearly top end…you’re kind of like looking at say maybe four times that plus with deposits, so with house prices at the moment. So I think average house price for the country is probably around 180,000, you can’t really quite make it [Royal Air Force, Other Rank, Group 2, Male]

4.2.3 Support for homeownership

This section addresses the following research questions:

• What are the views of Service Personnel on the support currently available from MOD to purchase a home?
• What could MOD do to support Service Personnel to purchase a home?

Most SP were unaware of any other support MOD offered for homeownership other than FHTB. Some mentioned the Future Accommodation Model (FAM) but were unsure of what Model offered in terms of homeownership. The FAM pilot aimed to:

• provide more choice to more SP over where, how, and with whom they live
• provide SP with an accommodation subsidy based on their need, rather than rank or relationship status
• enable SP to remain mobile, while also providing support if they want greater stability for themselves and/or their family

Under the FAM pilot policy, homeowners may receive financial support towards maintaining their own home depending on eligibility. You can find more information on the pilot at the guidance webpage What you need to know about the Future Accommodation Model.

The only thing will be the Future Accommodation Model bits and pieces but that’s only in very limited areas. I only know about that really because I previously lived in a in one of the trial areas up in Scotland and so the help towards payment of mortgage et cetera [Royal Navy/Royal Marine, Officer, Group 2, Male]

Potential non-financial home purchasing support MOD could offer for SP included workshops and face-to-face engagement on homebuying held on bases. This could include what is involved in the homebuying process, tips and advice, and current support available. SP also mentioned that it would be useful to have advisors (such as mortgage or financial) coming to the base who are aware of military specific information, for example, mortgage lenders that accept FHTB, or online learning about the homebuying process for SP.

So more information on how house buying works, what you need to do…I know there’s a lot of websites out there that break it down for you but for military personnel to have something that says, you know if you’re looking at buying a property, these are, you know, the things that you need to look at [Army, Other Rank, Group 1, Male]

Could probably make it more accessible to, to find the information and probably a bit more straightforward. Maybe run the odd roadshow to sort of capture people that might want to consider it [Army, Other Rank, Group 2, Male]

A few SP also noted they had received some learning during their time in the Service which they found useful; learning received included presentations and speaking to advisors.

We had like a presentation where the manager brought somebody in to talk about homeownership and the loan scheme…it’s just something that we were fortunate to be in to get…it was very useful, it was that I actually discovered that you have to have a credit to be able to get a mortgage [Army, Other Rank, Group 2, Female]

As part of the Future Accommodation Model pilot, first time buyers at a FAM pilot base could be eligible to get reimbursement of legal fees (up to £1,500). Those in group 2 who have never previously purchased a home, and therefore would be first time buyers, welcomed this extra support to purchase a home if offered to all SP who would be first time buyers.

Absolutely, yeah ‘cause I think that’s part of the uncertainty is just how much that side of things is gonna cost you [Royal Navy/Royal Marine, Other Rank, Group 2, Male]

Some SP who had used the FHTB scheme to purchase a home suggested that further support to maintaining a home could involve extending the FHTB loan to include refurbishing or extending your home, and not just in extenuating circumstances. Alternatively, MOD could also have a separate, smaller loan scheme to help support home refurbishment which is similar to FHTB policy.

Applying for again additional borrowing within the limits of the help to buy scheme for home improvements would be a useful feature. Obviously governed by the amount of time left to serve and how much is left within the award [Royal Air Force, Officer, Group 1, Male]

5. Conclusions

How does Forces Help to Buy support Service personnel to purchase a home

• FHTB is seen as a good scheme that enables SP to get onto the property ladder.
• The FHTB scheme boosted SP’s funds and they were able to put down larger deposits, which helped them either to get a mortgage in the first place or to get a better mortgage deal.
• If FHTB had not been available, SP would have had to either delay purchasing a home, consider purchasing a different house or stretch other budgets to be able to afford to buy.
• SP who did not own a home thought FHTB would support them to purchase a home and enable them to get on the property ladder in the future.

Forces Help to Buy application experience

• Some SP found the initial application paperwork and process easy.
• Most SP noted that the repayments were easy and manageable.
• Many SP experienced a lack of clear communication between themselves and MOD and were unable to get clear and quick answers to queries.

Forces Help to Buy impact on retention

• Both SP who had used FHTB and those who did not own a home felt FHTB was a benefit and a financial incentive of being in the Armed Forces, however they did not feel it was a driver to stay in.

Areas of improvement for Forces Help to Buy

• FHTB could be improved through better communication channels for SP queries throughout the application process.
• SP also suggested that the application should be digitalised to make applications easier.
• Some SP also thought the policy could be more flexible and understanding to individual circumstances as to who is allowed to receive the loan and when SP can sell their home.
• SP also noted the amount offered to SP could be increased, particularly due to the current buoyancy of the housing market.

Why do Service personnel purchase homes?

• SP purchased homes because they were financially ready, they wanted stability, or they had found a location they wanted to purchase in.
• SP who did not own a home were all considering homeownership in the future because they want to settle in an area and have stability, or they would like to have their own home and make the financial investment.

Barriers to homeownership for Service personnel

• Those SP who had purchased a home found the initial step of deciding to buy easy. However, they mentioned difficulties with how long the whole process took and difficulties with communication between all those involved in the home buying process.
• Those who had not purchased a home were concerned about the costs involved and saw the upfront cost as a barrier.
• Having to move job location was also seen as a barrier by some SP as they were unsure where best to purchase.

Support for homeownership

• SP suggested additional support that MOD could potentially offer included workshops/face-to-face engagement on the home buying process and having advisors come to base.
• SP who would be first time buyers saw reimbursement of legal fees as welcome support.
• Further support to maintain own homes could include loans to support home refurbishment.

References

Atieno, O. (2009). An Analysis of the Strengths and Limitation of Qualitative and Quantitative Research Paradigms. Problems of Education in the 21st Century, 13-18.

Drabble, L., Trocki, K., Salcedo, B., Walker, P., & Korcha, R. (2016). Conducting qualitative interviews by telephone: Lessons learned from a study of alcohol use among sexual minority and heterosexual women. Qual Soc Work, 118-133.

Ministry of Defence. (2022, April 28). Forces Help to Buy quarterly statistics - Quarter 4 2021/22. Retrieved from GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/forces-help-to-buy-scheme-quarterly-statistics-202122/forces-help-to-buy-quarterly-statistics-quarter-4-202122

Morgan, D. L. (1998). The focus group guide book. London: Sage Publications.

Roller, M., & Lavrakas, P. (2015). Applied Qualitative Research Design: A Total Quality Framework Approach. Guildford Publications.

Schreier, M. (2014). The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Analysis. SAGE.

Annexes

A. Forces Help to Buy Discussion Guide

A: INTRODUCTIONS [3 MINS]

[Introduce self, allow the participant to introduce themselves and confirm how they would like to be addressed during the session]

[Read-out]

• We will be discussing Forces Help to Buy scheme and homeownership for most of the session.
• MOD would like to speak to different SP to hear about their experiences.
• The session will last for about 30 minutes
• If you don’t understand anything, please let me know, and I’ll do my best to rephrase the question.
• All answers you give today will be anonymised and then aggregated for reporting purposes, and where any quotes are used, these will be labelled as obtained from [Rank Group – Officer/ Other Rank], [Service], [accommodation type] and [FHTB status]
• Please answer questions as honestly as you can – there are no wrong answers, and this will help ensure that the feedback we’re giving to MOD is correct and ultimately will hopefully improve the service that you and other Service Personnel receive.
• You will have reviewed and signed the consent form ahead of this session, and would you please confirm that you consent to have this session recorded and notes taken to be used for analysis purposes?
  • Audio recording session: Yes / No
  • Note-taking: Yes / No

[Remind participant about the right of withdrawal and data storage as confirmed by Data Controller]

• Before we begin, do you have any questions that you would like to ask us?

B: GENERAL ACCOMMODATION [3 MINS]

Ask All

1. Can you tell me about yourself and your current job?

PROMPTS:

a. How long have you been in the Army/Royal Navy/Royal Air Force/Royal Marines?

b. How would you briefly describe your job?

c. Which base are you currently located at?

2. What is your current living situation?

PROMPTS:

a. How much time do you currently spend in your home, e.g., do you live there full time, do you spend any time in SLA?

b. Where is your home located in comparison to your base?

c. How long is the commute?

d. Does anyone else live in the home?

C: HOMEOWNERSHIP [5 MINS]

Ask those who have purchased home

1. When did you purchase your current home?

2. Was this your first home purchase?

Ask those who are going through FHTB application process

1. When do you plan to purchase your home?

2. Is this your first home purchase?

Ask all

3. Why did you decide to purchase a home?

PROMPTS:

a. Was anyone else involved in the decision making?

b. [If recent home purchase] Why didn’t you buy a home before now?

c. What prompted you to buy a home when you did?

4. What are the factors that helped you decide to choose the house you are living in now/due to live in?

PROMPTS:

a. Was it close to your base at the time of purchasing?

b. Location?

c. Did it meet your needs as an individual or a family?

5. What was the easiest thing about the home buying process, if any?

6. What was the most difficult thing about the home buying process, if any?

D: Forces Help to Buy [14 MINS]

[Read out]

The Forces Help to Buy pilot scheme was launched in April 2014 with the aim of supporting and encouraging homeownership amongst Service Personnel. Regular Service Personnel can borrow up to 50% of their gross annual salary (to a maximum of £25,000) to buy their first home, move to another or, in exceptional circumstances, extend an existing property.

Ask all

1. What stage are you in the Forces Help to Buy scheme?

PROMPTS:

a. Have you completed the payback of the loan?

b. Are you currently paying off the loan? How long have you been paying it off? How long do you have left?

c. Which application stage are you in?

2. How did you hear about Forces Help to Buy scheme?

PROMPTS:

a. Was it through formal channels?

b. Word of mouth?

c. Did you know anyone else who had used it?

3. Why did you choose to use the Forces Help to Buy scheme?

PROMPTS:

a. At what part in the decision-making process to buy a house was it considered?

b. Was anyone else involved in the decision to use Forces Help to Buy scheme? Who?

c. Did the FHTB scheme offset the cost of legal fees required when purchasing a house?

d. Was the amount offered enough to encourage you? (50% of salary or £25k max)

e. Was the loan being interest free (not paying back to a bank) a factor?

f. The ease of approval process to get the loan.

g. Did you receive any feedback from colleagues about the scheme?

h. Did you consider any other schemes such as government help to Buy?

4. If the FHTB scheme had not been available, what impact would this have had on your decision-making process to buy a house?

PROMPTS:

a. Would you have bought at the same time or had to delay purchase to save money?

b. Would you have had to borrow more from the bank?

c. Would you have to have chosen a different size house?

5. What has been your experience of using the Forces Help to Buy scheme?

a. How has using the scheme impacted you and your family (if applicable)?

b. Has there been any benefits to using the scheme? If so, what are these benefits?

c. Has there been any limitations to using the scheme? If so, what are these limitations?

6. Does receiving Forces Help to Buy impact your plans to stay in, or leave, the Armed Forces?

a. Why?

b. Has it previously?

7. When you took/take FHTB, did/do you plan to stay in Service for at least ten years to pay it off?

a. How about now?

b. Has it been a factor in deciding to stay in for longer?

8. What are your experiences of the administrative process of accessing the Forces Help to Buy scheme?

PROMPTS:

a. Was the process easy?

b. Were there any difficulties?

c . [If yes] were these resolved? How quickly?

9. Is there anything that could be improved about the Forces Help to Buy scheme or to help you buy a home?

PROMPTS:

a. Anything involving the admin process?

b. The repayments?

c. The policy itself?

E: Other MOD support to buying a house [3 MINS]

1. Thinking back to when you were deciding to purchase a home, is there anything else that would have supported you to buy a home?

a. Financial support with legal fees?

b. Financial support with mortgage?

c. Learning/training materials?

2. Is there any support that would help continue to maintain your own home?

a. Would it encourage you to stay in the Services?

F: CLOSING [2 MINS]

1. Is there anything else that you would like to share about Forces Help to Buy scheme or homeownership before we finish?

2. Do you have any questions for us before we finish?

If you think of anything or decide you would like to opt-out of this research and have your contribution removed from the study after today, please contact the shared mailbox in the next 2 weeks.

If any of the issues raised in today’s session have affected you, please contact your unit welfare officer or the volunteer advocate to discuss the support available. If you wish to make a complaint or raise any other issues about the research, please contact the volunteer advocate whose details are in the information sheet.

B. Do Not Own a Home Sample Discussion Guide

A: INTRODUCTIONS [3 MINS]

[Introduce self, allow the participant to introduce themselves and confirm how they would like to be addressed during the session]

[Read-out]

• MOD would like to speak to different SP to hear about their experiences.
• We will be discussing homeownership for most of the session.
• The session will last for about 30 minutes
• If you don’t understand anything, please let me know, and I’ll do my best to rephrase the question.
• All answers you give today will be anonymised and then aggregated for reporting purposes, and where any quotes are used, these will be labelled as obtained from [Rank Group – Officer/ Other Rank], [Service], and [accommodation type]
• Please answer questions as honestly as you can – there are no wrong answers, and this will help ensure that the feedback we’re giving to MOD is correct and ultimately will hopefully improve the service that you and other Service Personnel receive.

[Consent Form]

[Reminder of the consent form that they will have signed, form to be held in MOD Systems - Chief Investigator to have confirmed ahead of session]

• You will have reviewed and signed a consent form ahead of this session, and would you please confirm that you consent to have this session recorded and notes taken to be used for analysis purposes?
  • Audio recording session: Yes / No
  • Note-taking: Yes / No

[Remind participant about the right of withdrawal and data storage as confirmed by Data Controller]

• Before we begin, do you have any questions that you would like to ask us?

B: GENERAL ACCOMMODATION [4 MINS]

Ask All

1. Can you tell me about yourself and your current job?

PROMPTS:

a. How long have you been in the Army/Navy/Air Force/Royal Marines?

b. How would you briefly describe your job?

c. Which base are you currently located at?

2. What is your current living situation?

PROMPTS:

a. What accommodation do you currently reside in?

b. Where is your accommodation currently located? On base/off base?

c. How long is the commute?

d. Does anyone else live in the home?

3. Is there anything you like about your current living situation?

4. Is there anything you dislike about your current living situation?

C: HOMEOWNERSHIP [6 MINS]

Ask all

1. In your experience as a Service Person, do you consider there to be any barriers to homeownership?

PROMPTS:

a. Are the upfront costs a barrier, e.g., the deposit?

b. Affordability?

c. Paying a mortgage each month?

d. Are there any Service impacts, e.g., moving regularly / prefer to move with family rather than weekly commute? 5. Knowledge of the home buying process?

e. Knowledge of the home buying process?

f. Condition of SLA if you had to live in SLA during the week? (E.g. if purchased home away from base)

g. Does not suit current personal/family circumstances to be routed in a single location?

2. Have you ever owned a home?

[If yes]

a. Why did you purchase the home?

b. Why did you sell it?

3. Is homeownership something you are considering in the future?

[If yes]

a. Roughly how many months/years in the future?

b. Why are you considering it?

c. Is there anybody else you are consulting with in the decision-making process?

[If no]

a. Why is homeownership something you are not considering?

b. Is there anybody else you are consulting with in the decision-making process?

4. Could you briefly talk through what you know about the home buying process?

5. Are there any stages in the home buying process that you have concerns about and why?

[prompt on the why]

D: CURRENT MOD SUPPORT [6 MINS]

Forces Help to Buy

[Read out]

The Forces Help to Buy pilot scheme was launched in April 2014 with the aim of supporting and encouraging homeownership amongst Service Personnel. Regular Service Personnel can advance up to 50% of their gross annual salary (to a maximum of £25,000) to buy their first home, move to another or, in exceptional circumstances, extend an existing property. This can be used towards a deposit and other costs such as solicitor’s and estate agent’s fees. The advance of salary is interest free and repaid monthly over ten years. You are required to live in the property if posted in the area, but can rent it out if posted elsewhere, although you will then pay some tax on the benefit of not paying interest.

[If SP ask about tax if they rent out a property]

As the advance is interest-free, HMRC sees this as a benefit of employment.

HMRC say you ‘should’ be paying around 5% (give or take) interest, so for example around £1k on £20k loan, so £1k becomes the benefit which you need to pay tax on if you rent it out. This could equate to approximately £200-400 per year depending on income.

1. Have you previously heard of the Forces Help to Buy scheme?

[If yes]

a. Where did you hear about the scheme?

b. How much do you know about the scheme?

c. Have you thought about using the Forces Help to Buy scheme in the past?

2. Is Forces Help to Buy something you feel could support you in buying a home?

PROMPTS:

a. Why is that? / Why not?

3. Would Forces Help to Buy impact your plans to stay in the Armed Forces?

PROMPT:

a. Why?

4. Is there anything about the Forces Help to Buy scheme you think can be improved to support Service Personnel to buy a home?

E: SUPPORT TO PURCHASE A HOME [8 MINS]

1. Is there any other support that MOD offers for homeownership that you are aware of?

2. What could MOD do to support you to purchase a home?

PROMPTS:

a. Financial support with the deposit?

b. Financial support with the fees involved (e.g., estate agent fees)?

c. Financial support with mortgage payments?

d. Current policy changes?

e. Training/learning about home purchasing as a Service Personnel, e.g., how-to-guide?

f. Administrative support?

g. Support with moves between bases and homeownership?

3. Under the Future Accommodation Model pilot, first time buyers could claim refund of legal expenses (up to £1500) that are involved in buying a home, e.g., solicitor fees as you need to have a solicitor to process legal documents when buying a home. Is this something that would help you buy a home?

4. Is there any support in terms of homeownership that would impact you plans to stay in the Armed Forces?

F: CLOSING [3 MINS]

1. Is there anything else that you would like to share homeownership before we finish?

2. Do you have any questions for us before we finish?

If you think of anything or decide you would like to opt-out of this research and have your contribution removed from the study after today, please contact the shared mailbox in the next 2 weeks.

If any of the issues raised in today’s session have affected you, please contact your unit welfare officer or the volunteer advocate to discuss the support available. If you wish to make a complaint or raise any other issues about the research, please contact the volunteer advocate who’s details are in the information sheet.