Guy Hands’ Annington Homes is heading to court today to try to prevent the government unravelling the privatisation of tens of thousands of military homes.
The property company, owned by private equity firm Terra Firma, is challenging an attempt by the Ministry of Defence to buy back dwellings.
About 57,400 properties were sold to Annington for £1.7bn in 1996, under an arrangement whereby the homes were leased back by the government. However, the estate is now valued at an estimated £8.15bn, with suggestions that the deal lost the government between £2.1bn and £4.2bn over the first 21 years of the 200-year contract.
Annington claims the MoD wants to use “compulsory acquisition powers by the Crown”, but has failed to satisfy the conditions for such an action.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed last year that it was exploring its legal capacity “to buy out Annington’s interest in the homes and gain full ownership rights”.
