Changing rooms: 1,000 military homes have been upgraded in time for Christmas

Hundreds of military families have woken up on Christmas Eve in newly renovated homes thanks to the completion of improvements to fix 1,000 of the worst Armed Forces housing ahead of schedule. 

The programme, known as Raising the Minimum Standards, has also been extended to cover a further 250 military properties, which need priority upgrades in the next few months. 

The initiative has seen significant works undertaken at service family homes across the UK, with upgrades to nearly 700 properties in England, more than 150 in Northern Ireland, over 100 in Wales and more than 50 in Scotland. 

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We said we would do it, Defence Secretary says 

"These were some of the worst homes that we faced this year," Defence Secretary John Healey told BFBS Forces News's Sofie Cacoyannis. 

"We said we would do it. We said we would make a start.

"And over the next decade, with £9bn behind it, we will upgrade or rebuild at least nine out of 10 of all forces family homes."

Other renovations took place in more than 200 military homes in Wiltshire and Windsor, as well as homes in Bassingbourn, Swanton Morley, Woodbridge and Uxbridge. 

The changes made to the houses include new flooring and other upgrades, such as replacing unreliable boilers and heating systems, repairing hundreds of leaky roofs, and installing new bathrooms, kitchens, windows, and doors.  

Everyone is a lot happier, says soldier

Corporal Jack Crean, his partner Nina and their one-year-old son Charlie have just moved into one of the newly refurbished homes at Bassingbourn Barracks in Cambridgeshire. 

Cpl Crean said that he was "really pleased" to have got into his new home just in time for Christmas. 

"Everyone is a lot happier here, especially Charlie," he added. "It's nice to live in an up-to-date house. 

"It works so much better for the whole family, and if I was to go away, I know that my family is in a clean, modern house."

The upgrades are all part of the Defence Housing Strategy, which will see the modernisation, refurbishment and rebuilding of more than 40,000 service family homes. 

"I am very proud of the improvements our teams have made to 1,000 of our worst homes," David Brewer, Defence Infrastructure Organisation's chief operating officer, said. 

Additional reporting by Sofie Cacoyannis.