Chelsea Barracks

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Chelsea Barracks is a British Army barracks located in the City of Westminster, London, adjacent to Chelsea, on Chelsea Bridge Road.

It was originally built to house two battalions of troops. It is now the home of three companies of the Foot Guards: Nijmegen Company, Grenadier Guards; No 7 Company, Coldstream Guards; F Company, Scots Guards. The three companies total about 250 troops.

[edit] Sale of the barracks

On 6 September 2005 Secretary of State for Defence, John Reid, announced that Chelsea Barracks will be sold. He described it as needing extensive renovations. The site is to be vacated by 2008. The barracks is in one of London's most expensive residential areas and is expected to sell for £200m. The troops will be transferred to the Royal Artillery Barracks at Woolwich. The site is part of the Ministry of Defence's MODeL project that will see it and five other sites sold off across London mainly for housing.

The barracks is also the home of The Regimental Bands of The Irish Guards and The Welsh Guards - who do not know where they will be rehoused when the barracks closes. They will reportedly be moving to Artillery House. The small Signal Squadron that is based there is rumoured to be moving to Aldershot but nothing has been set in stone yet^{[citation needed]}.

Westminster City Council published its draft planning brief for the Chelsea Barracks site in September 2006. It includes a commitment to develop 50% of the site with affordable housing. A Community Forum was established by local residents in April 2006 with the support of Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, John Hutton MP, to campaign for greater transparency in the sale of the barracks site and for the 50% affordable homes commitment to be realised.