Submariners and their families are expected to put down roots in Dumbarton and the Vale as a military accommodation trial commences.

HM Naval Base Clyde (HMNB Clyde) has been selected for the first UK test site for a study that could change the way sailors, soldiers and aircrew are housed.

The 3,400 submariners, sailors and Royal Marines based at Scotland’s largest military establishment have been selected as the first UK personnel who could benefit from the Future Accommodation Model (FAM) pilot study.

The FAM pilot will provide financial support to service personnel at HMNB Clyde who want to rent or buy a home within a 50-mile radius of the base, giving personnel more choice where and with whom they can live.

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Rear Admiral Mike Bath, naval secretary and assistant chief of naval staff, who officially launched the pilot, said: “As part of the wider Armed Forces’ programme to modernise for the 21st Century, HM Naval Base Clyde was chosen for this first pilot study due to its strategic importance for Royal Navy operations.

“This includes the relocation of 1,700 submariners from Devonport to the Clyde, as the Scottish site becomes the Royal Navy’s single integrated submarine operating base from 2020.

“We anticipate that more submariners and their families will choose to move permanently to the west of Scotland, to live, work and put down roots, safe in the knowledge that their careers will be focussed on a single site in Scotland which provides for all their training, operational and support needs.”

Service personnel can also still choose to live in the onsite single living accommodation or family accommodation.

Only once the pilot is complete, and the results analysed, will a decision be taken whether to roll-out FAM across the rest of the United Kingdom.

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