Please excuse my somewhat of a tangent while I eventually get to the point here.
Renting a home should never be encouraged IMHO. It is generally a way to make the gap between ‘have’ and ‘have nots’ larger.
For service members and their families, PMQ’s used to be a fairly economical manner of saving for a home, in the same way the theory of Singles Quarters was (I say theory as few single service members really save for a house during their time in shacks).
Landlords for the most part rent their property for income (duh). With the delta between their expenses and rent being profit - the profit they make from renting is out of the hands of the tenants who could otherwise be putting that into a home of their own.
Sometimes renting can make sense for people starting out who don’t have enough to put towards a down payment for their own home, but it should never be seen as a long term goal, as it doesn’t end up making any build up of equity.
To me the CAF is best served by a financially stable group of members. It is both a morale booster, and a security measure to have members who are financially secure, or at least able to see growth in their financial life.
By providing both single quarters and PMQS at a stable price point, the CAF allows its members to save towards the future and eventually move off base in their own homes.
I would imagine that despite TB claims and policies that the CAF could explain that due to the nature of the service agreement with CAF members that it doesn’t violate any PS code etc as last time I looked the PS isn’t able to be deployed to a combat zone or forced to work overtime without compensation.
The idea that somehow Military housing needs to be tied to market rates to me is asinine, and the 90’s fetish to divest Military Housing was another misstep in the Government not understanding the actual role or importance of the Military.
I would think the CAF should have a pretty solid idea on what the demographics of the members are (single, married, married with children [ and numbers of children], divorced, divorce rates, single parents etc).
Those demographics should be available for every base/depot/facility etc - as well as able to be segregated by rank.
So an understanding of the requirements for housing and the income/ financial stability level of members at those bases - to ensure that enough housing exists for members who chose to live on base — as well as having financial resources for the members to make and implement a plan to acquire a home and move off base.
