Military housing to be based on families' needs rather than rank, as MOD shakes up system
Service family accommodation will be allocated based on the size of families instead of rank, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has announced as it unveiled a number of changes to military housing.
The needs-based approach will initially only be used for housing in the UK but could eventually be rolled out at overseas locations.
The state of housing, particularly for military families, has been a source of controversy for the MOD, with photos and videos being shared on social media showing what appears to be some of the poor conditions in which some personnel have to live.
The announcement came as the MOD unveiled the New Accommodation Offer which it says aims to revolutionise military housing.
The MOD said the offer, which will be available from March next year, will be the biggest change to Armed Forces housing in a generation.
Changes include improvements to Single Living Accommodation and support for home ownership, as well as the "revolutionary move" to needs-based housing.
Andrew Murrison, the Minister for Defence People, Veterans and Service Families, said: "As the Defence Command Paper Refresh made clear, our serving personnel are critical to the effectiveness of our Armed Forces.
"Today's announcement will ensure that our defence accommodation policy continues to meet the needs of today's Armed Forces community offering greater flexibility for those that serve."
The MOD said it was also committed to learning from the New Accommodation Offer to improve overseas accommodation for service personnel.
It says it is already looking at how it can implement the changes overseas, including pilots of needs-based accommodation at selected locations.
Overseas accommodation policy will be separated from UK policy which the MOD says will make it easier to understand and consider the different realities of living in other countries, such as where air conditioning is more important than loft insulation.
The New Accommodation Offer includes:
- Needs-based allocation of family accommodation, which will allocate housing based on the immediate family size instead of rank
- Service personnel registered as being in an established long-term relationship will be entitled to accommodation on the same basis as those who are married or in a civil partnership
- Parents who have children with a main home elsewhere can access service family accommodation, providing the children visit for more than 80 nights a year
- More flexibility for service personnel to request the type of home that works for their family, allowing them to access homes above or below their entitlement
- Improved standards in Single Living Accommodation with a minimum standard for Single Living Accommodation agreed across the estate
- In addition to the Forces Help to Buy, which offers support to first-time buyers to buy a home, a permanent part of the MOD's accommodation policy, the New Accommodation Offer will provide further support for service personnel becoming first-time buyers, refunding up to £1,500 of their legal expenses
- Providing financial support for weekly commuters who are maintaining a primary home elsewhere irrespective of age or marital status
The New Accommodation Offer delivers on recommendations from Government reports, the MOD said, as well as research with service personnel and their families, including learnings from a three-year pilot.
In February this year, shadow defence secretary John Healey commissioned a full-scale, independent review of military housing.
According to statistics, service families have received almost 8,000 compensation payments for the state of their accommodation since April 2022.
The attention on military housing was increased in December 2022 when a British officer released footage on social media showing a two-month-old baby sleeping in a cot in a bedroom that appeared to have black mould on the walls.
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