Initially it is selling 174 vacant army camp houses at Burnham, Linton and Waiouru, for removal. Other Defence houses around the country are being considered for sale either immediately or over the next five years.
The Defence Force said demand for its houses had fallen significantly since it introduced a universal accommodation component to service personnel's pay in 2008 -- giving them the choice of living on base or taking an equivalent allowance and finding accommodation off-base.
"This isn't about the Defence Force reducing the size of our camps and bases. It's about acknowledging that the needs of our personnel have changed and shifting our resources accordingly," Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae said.
"Property management is not our core business and New Zealanders' tax dollars are better spent ensuring that our Defence Force maintains excellent frontline military capability."
As houses were sold, the Defence Force's maintenance budget would be re-distributed over fewer houses and enable refurbishments to be carried out on its mainly state-house era homes built from the 1940s to 1960s.
About 20 percent of the 2480 Defence houses were vacant and the Defence Force said it cost $4778 a year to maintain each house.
In Bulls 122 houses were being subdivided and may be sold as house and land parcels.
