Defense Housing

The federal government has an inventory of around 400,000 military family housing units, about 72 percent of which are 26 years or older. This is the point at which many of the major components of the dwelling reach the end of their estimated useful life. The Defense Department estimates that almost 200,000 of these dwellings will require about $11 billion for renovations over the next decade to keep them habitable. The replacement value of the 400,000 units now exceeds $39 million. As an example of some of the difficulties faced by housing managers, this report also provides a synopsis of what happened to 28 family housing units on Antigua, a small Caribbean island, in the 1970s and 1980s.

GAO found that the Department of Defense: (1) fiscal year 1992 inventory states that 72 percent of the 400,000 military family housing units are at least 26 years old; (2) anticipates the replacement value of the 400,000 units to exceed $39 billion; (3) estimated that almost 200,000 of these units would require about $11 billion in renovation costs over the next decade; (4) anticipates the average renovation cost per dwelling to be about $56,000, excluding minor maintenance and repair costs, which could add an additional $3.4 billion to the overall bill; (5) stated that any cost reductions resulting from the April 1991 base realignments and closures would probably be offset by increases in costs for additional needed renovation work identified during more in-depth inspections; and (6) believes that it would be more cost-effective to renovate the existing units, as opposed to performing minor repairs when needed, since such renovations could extend the useful life of these units another 25 years, cost significantly less than replacing them with new units, and reduce operating costs.