THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE has lost billions of pounds flogging off soldiers’ accommodation that later soared in value, auditors have revealed.

In 1996 the MoD sold off 55,000 married quarters to Annington Property Ltd for £1.66bn and then rented them back from the housing company. The sale made Annington one of the largest private owners of residential property in Britain.

More than 20 years on, the department is still shelling out £178 million a year in rent for 39,000 of those homes it sold off, according to the National Audit Office (NAO) study.