The government has defeated Guy Hands in the battle to take back control of tens of thousands of military homes worth more than £8bn.
The High Court ruled that the Ministry of Defence had the right to buy back the remaining 38,000 properties from Annington, part of the financier’s Terra Firma investment group, which bought the portfolio in 1996. About 57,400 properties were sold to Annington under an arrangement whereby the homes were leased back by the government.
Mr Justice Holgate found that the defence secretary was “entitled to make legitimate use of such bargaining power as he has”. He added: “The arrangements were and still remain a bad deal for the MoD, its estate and the public purse.”
The National Audit Office has suggested that the government lost up to £4.2bn in the first 21 years of the contract as house prices rose.
Annington said it would appeal against the decision, adding that it set a “dangerous precedent”.
