According to the Defense Department, in 2009, basic military housing allowances for military members will increase an average of 6.9 percent. The increase averages $95 per month for the 950,000 servicemembers expected to draw basic allowance for housing, or BAH, in 2009. This represents an average, and while some military servicemembers will not see any increase at all, others may actually see less than the average increase.
BAH is an allowance to offset the cost of housing when you do not receive government-provided housing. Your BAH depends upon your location, pay grade and whether you have dependents. BAH rates are set by surveying the cost of rental properties in each geographic location. The rates are established such that members in each pay grade, independent of location, pay approximately the same out-of-pocket costs. Therefore, BAH rates in high-cost areas will be much greater than those in low-cost areas. Typically, BAH rates are higher in larger, more heavily populated metropolitan areas, such as New York City, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
For 2009, some servicemembers may notice that BAH in their area is lower than last year's, but an individual rate protection law is in effect to protect those who are already are under a rental agreement. If your area's BAH rates are lower on Jan. 1 than on Dec. 31, the previous, higher rate will apply. However, military servicemembers who change duty stations after Jan. 1 would adhere to the new lower rates for that area.
The local market economy has always been the basis for all BAH rate changes. Military housing offices from each installation collect data from the local rental market as early as January each year, factoring adequate and appropriate dwellings for military families into their research statistics. Military housing offices look into the current rates for two-bedroom houses, townhouses, single-family homes and all the different standards and profiles for homes.
While the BAH program will not pay 100 percent of non-government military housing, the BAH entitlement is designed to support the costs of adequate and appropriate dwellings for military families, with housing that would serve all military families with comfortable living.
