A landmark deal will see the vast majority of MoD-funded private accommodation for veterans in Newquay and St Columb Minor brought back into public hands and improved.

The government is going to buy back 118 homes from the private landlord that currently owns them in the constituency and undertake essential refurbishments.

The move reverses a sale undertaken by the then Government in 1996, which meant billions of pounds has been spent renting back military homes that they “shouldn’t have sold in the first place.”

Noah Law, MP for St Austell and Newquay, said: “Newquay and St Austell have a strong armed forces presence and we all greatly appreciate the hard work and commitment of local forces families.

“It’s unacceptable that, in the lead up to Christmas, so many military families are living in sub-standard housing. For those who’ve put themselves in harm’s way and seen huge commitment from their families to keep our country safe, we must ensure the highest standards – change is coming.

“This announcement is the next step in fixing the problems holding back St Austell and Newquay.”

The government states taking back control of the military housing estate across the country will save the taxpayer £230-million a year in rent, which equates to £600,000 per day.

A spokesperson said: “A major deal to bring the Armed Forces housing estate back into public ownership has been agreed by the government.

“The government will fix military housing in the Newquay and St Austell constituency and across the country.

“Billions of pounds will be saved by the deal over the next decade, delivering savings for taxpayers and enabling additional investment into homes for military families.

“The major deal unlocks new-build housing projects for military families plus essential refurbishments.

“Across the country, thousands of forces’ families are living with damp, mould and leaks after more than a decade of underinvestment in maintenance and repairs of these ageing homes.

“The Prime Minister has committed to ensuring homes fit for our heroes, and that is what we will deliver for our service families.

“This deal will unlock a major programme of rebuilding and refurbishing military housing and will help achieve the Prime Minister’s milestones on kickstarting economic growth and boosting housebuilding across the country.

Rt Hon John Healey MP, Secretary of State for Defence added: “This deal shows our government is determined to deliver homes fit for our heroes.

“These important savings to the defence budget will help fix the deep-set problems we inherited.

“That money could have been spent on making forces’ housing fit for the future. Our Labour government has taken decisive action to reverse that deal, bringing military housing back into public hands and unlocking investment for the future.

“There is still a lot of work to do to deliver the homes our military families deserve, and these problems will not be fixed overnight.

“But this is a decisive break with the failed approach of the past and a major step forward on that journey.”