Officials announce 2005 housing allowance rates Published Dec. 15, 2004 WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Department of Defense officials released the 2005 Basic Allowance for Housing rates Dec. 15, continuing to reduce servicemembers’ out-of-pocket housing costs. Three main components are included in computing the allowance: median current market rent, average cost for utilities and average renter's insurance. An estimated $12.3 billion in allowance payments will be made to more than 910,000 servicemembers in 2005.In total, the planned increase is about $2.5 billion, officials said. The 2005 rates represent the final phase of the planned buy-down in out-of-pocket housing expenses. Other components of the increase are geographic rate protection and housing cost inflation.Out-of-pocket expense, the portion of the typical servicemember's housing cost that he or she is responsible for, has been reduced from 3.5 percent last year to zero this year. The 2005 rates represent the final phase taken to bring the average out-of-pocket expense to zero; however, the actual expense for an individual may be higher or lower than that average, based on the actual choice of housing, officials said.For Airmen with dependents, average increases in the allowance for fiscal 2005 are about 8 percent. For example, a typical senior Airman with dependents will find his or her allowance about $47 per month higher than last year. A senior master sergeant with dependents will have about $60 more in his or her paycheck.An integral part of the BAH program is the provision of individual rate protection to all servicemembers. No matter what happens to measured housing costs, no one in a given location will see a BAH rate decrease. This policy assures that people who have made long-term commitments in the form of a lease or contract will not be penalized if the area's housing costs decrease.Geographic-rate protection has also been provided to servicemembers. Geographic-rate protection maintains an allowance rate at last year's level while the planned buy down in out-of-pocket expense is phased in. The protection means that newly arrived servicemembers to an area will not see rates that are substantially less than current peoples’ rates, officials said.The 2005 rates can be found at https://secureapp2.hqda.pentagon.mil/perdiem/bah.html.