"Back military families": £9bn overhaul for Royal Navy, Army and RAF houses - new body to put "forces first"
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Billions of pounds is being invested into modernising more than 40,000 military family homes as part of a decade-long overhaul.
Defence secretary John Healey said the government would undertake “the biggest renewal of armed forces housing in more than 50 years” in a drive to “back Britain’s military families”. The plan will see almost all of the 47,700 service family accommodation (SFA) homes refurbished over the next decade, with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) promising new kitchens, bathrooms and heating systems.
Around 14,000 will receive either “substantial refurbishment” or be completely replaced. This comes as a new quango, Defence Housing Service, will be formed to take over management of service accommodation after years of complaints. A committee report last year found various maintenance problems and years of underinvestment, leacing two third of SFA housing “essentially no longer fit for purpose”.
Around 56 per cent of service personnel are housed in single living accommodation and 40 per cent said poor accommodation standards had made them more likely to leave the armed forces. The refurbishment is part of the Government’s wider defence housing strategy, set to be published today (November 3).
The strategy, backed by £9 billion over the next 10 years, will also include plans to build 100,000 homes on surplus MoD land, both for civilians and service personnel. Mr Healey announced a “forces first” policy at Labour’s party conference this year, giving service families and veterans “first dibs” on new homes built on MoD land.
The defence secretary said: “Every day, our British forces personnel – and their families – help to keep us all safe. In this new era of threat, we rely on them more every day. The least they deserve is a decent home. Our new defence housing strategy will be the biggest renewal of armed forces housing in more than 50 years. This is a new chapter: a decisive break from decades of underinvestment, with a building programme to back Britain’s military families and drive economic growth across the country.”
The strategy follows a review of military housing led by former MP Natalie Elphicke Ross, who defected from the Conservatives to Labour shortly before the 2024 general election.
Ms Elphicke Ross, whose review surveyed more than 6,000 service families, said: “For too long, military housing has been in a terrible state, this strategy seeks to change that by fixing defence family homes and delivering for the nation.”
The Defence Housing Service will operate as an arm’s-length public body, with Mr Healey saying the new service would “deliver better value for the taxpayer and fulfil our promise to provide homes fit for heroes”. When created, it will be one of the largest publicly owned housing providers in the country.
The Labour MP added: “Our British forces personnel and our veterans fulfil the ultimate public service. Our nation is rightly proud of them. And the very least they deserve is a decent home. This new strategy will embed a ‘forces first’ approach that tells our forces, our veterans and their families: we are on your side.”
Shadow defence secretary David Cartlidge, Conservative, said: “With retention still one of the most critical issues in defence, it is vital our armed forces families are provided with the best quality accommodation. We will carefully consider Labour’s proposals but, like all their defence policy papers so far, this is months late and we now need to see real ambition in practice when it comes to overhauling defence accommodation.”