A family camps out in Colchester to beat the crowds

People are queuing at Colchester Garrison and at RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire, where ex-military homes are being put up for sale.

With house prices in the region still appreciating, the Essex properties start at a relatively affordable �95,000, while the quarters in Cambridgeshire have been priced at �81,000.

Determined buyers have camped out near RAF Wittering for two weeks to get their hands on one of 22 homes being released for sale on Monday; in Colchester, the houses will not be offered until the end of the week.

Anita Brown, regional sales manager for Annington Homes, said: "The homes have been very popular for first-time buyers.

The houses on offer were MoD family quarters

"We have again strategically priced the homes within financial reach of people in the area, and with the financial incentives that we offer, we hope to get people onto the property ladder."

Annington expected to sell at least half of the houses in Cambridgeshire on Monday, with the remainder going over the next few weeks.

The pattern has been consistent around the region.

The company offered 25 homes at Carver barracks, in Saffron Walden, Essex in December last year and they were sold very quickly.

Annington Homes purchased 57,000 homes from the Ministry of Defence in 1996, and is authorised to sell off surplus stock and share the profits with the MoD.

Empty houses

But there are still some empty MoD homes in the region which have not gone up for sale, despite high demand.

At RAF West Raynham in Norfolk, more than 100 family homes were empty for more than eight years since the base shut down.

The MoD said it had not decided upon the future of the site.

In the meantime, additional housing units are to be built for US military families based at RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk to ease a housing shortage around the bases.