Would you want to live next door to the boss – or should there be an air gap between ranks?

Watch: Huge changes to the military accommodation offer has sparked criticism

Soon-to-be-implemented changes to accommodation policies could spell the end of officer-only Service Family Accommodation (SFA) estates, meaning seniors and juniors could find themselves living side-by-side, as next-door neighbours.

The changes, which come into effect on 11 March 2024, have caused backlash from some sections of the Armed Forces and it's led to a petition calling on the Government to review the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) new rules, attracting more than 15,000 signatures.

Called the 'New Accommodation Offer', the rules change will also see those who are not married qualify for SFA for the first time.

According to sources, there are winners and losers to the new policy.

Those in long-term relationships but who are not married may view the New Accommodation Offer as welcome news, as it means they may now qualify for SFA. Previously, in few locations, SFA has been made available to those in long term relationships, if there was a surplus of homes.

But Forces News has spoken to a senior officer who expressed worries about SFA stock numbers, as the MOD is not building new homes to account for the increase in those who will be eligible after 11 March.

He said that it will eventually mean that at some military locations "SFA will become full" and those who apply in the future will be offered homes elsewhere, away from their base, or be pointed towards the private rental sector instead.

The source added: "That might be fine for some, but for others, particularly those without their own transport, or those who need to be on hand for roles or operational duties, won't be easily where they need to be."

The New Accommodation Offer includes provisions to financially assist those who are forced to rent privately.

New SFA Service Family Accommodation estate, built at Beacon Barracks in Staffor — For the first time, those who are not married will be potentially entitled to Service Family Accommodation (Picture: MOD)

In a significant change to the rules, as they currently stand, the new offer will also see SFA properties made available to those eligible in the Armed Forces only on a needs basis, usually calculated by the number of dependent children a service person has parental responsibility for.

This means that the current policy of automatically offering properties to some officers by their rank will cease to exist.

This rule change has angered some officers, who feel the MOD is reneging on commitments made when employment contracts were signed.

And given that homes will be offered to all members of the Armed Forces on a needs basis only, regardless of rank, it means officer-specific SFA properties and estates could eventually cease to exist.

The source said that those responsible for the new policy, which he said were civil servants at the Treasury, are not familiar enough with the nuances of military life.

SFA estates — Service Family Accommodation sites on the same base in southern England. One was originally built to be occupied by officers, the other by Other Ranks (Picture: Google Earth)

The new rules mean that officers currently occupying properties with more bedrooms than they require may be asked to vacate their homes, which has left many angry and others calling for the Government to intervene.

Our source agreed that on the face of it, giving homes to all ranks based on need looks great on paper, but said there will be unintended consequences including officers deciding to leave the military altogether.

"One hundred percent – people will leave," he added.

Another source told Forces News that an effective chain of command depends on a separation between those who command, and those who are commanded.

They spoke of an 'air gap' that must exist between ranks, referring to the space the chain of command expects its personnel to respect outside of the workplace.

They added: "You don't standardly have company commanders mixing with lance corporals socially, that's why they've traditionally lived in their own spaces, too."

SFA properties — Under the new rules, which take effect from 11 March, some officers may be asked to vacate their current properties

Anyone asked to vacate rank-based properties after the new policy comes into effect will be moved onto a scheme called Transitional Protection.

Transitional Protection will last up to three years and provide those who are affected with alternative accommodation with the same number of bedrooms but it does not guarantee the occupancy can continue in the same property during the transition period.

This means some officers may still be asked to leave their current homes under the New Accommodation Offer from March.

The New Accommodation Offer includes a number of measures, which the MOD says are designed to "modernise accommodation entitlements, making provision fairer through allocating accommodation on need, not just rank and recognising long-term relationships".

These include new measures to help members of the Armed Forces to get on the property ladder, and the refunding of some Single Living Accommodation (SLA) costs for those who own property away from base.

The MOD says the New Accommodation offer will also give personnel more choice in how they live.