£9bn Defence Housing Strategy and 100k MoD homes
If someone in your family serves, housing isn’t a side issue - it shapes school runs, medical care and money plans. The UK government has now set out a £9bn Defence Housing Strategy to upgrade more than 40,000 military homes and open the door to over 100,000 new homes on surplus Ministry of Defence land. Published on 2 November 2025, officials call it the biggest improvement to Service Family Accommodation in more than half a century.
Here’s what is promised. Over ten years, tens of thousands of Service Family homes will be modernised with new kitchens, bathrooms and heating. Around 14,000 properties will get major refurbishment or be replaced entirely. The plan draws on an independent review chaired by former MP and housing specialist Natalie Elphicke Ross OBE, and a survey of more than 6,000 service families - a nod to learning from lived experience, not just spreadsheets.
Where does the money come from? Ministers say the £9bn programme sits alongside extra funds confirmed through the Strategic Defence Review in 2025, including more than £1.5bn to fix poor accommodation faster. Crucially, it also leans on savings from the Annington deal completed in January 2025, which brought 36,347 homes back into public ownership and ended rental payments worth about £600,000 a day. Government documents put the buy‑back price at just under £6bn.
Delivery is meant to be continuous, not a one‑off announcement. The Strategy proposes a Defence Development Fund to recycle proceeds from selling truly surplus defence land back into new and better forces housing. Alongside that sits a ‘Forces First’ approach so service families and veterans get priority access to homes built on MoD development sites. A cross‑government taskforce set up in March is already pushing to unlock sites and speed up planning.
Who benefits first? The government says families in the worst‑condition homes should see upgrades earlier in the programme, while veterans in housing need are promised clearer routes into social housing. Since late 2024, veterans in England no longer have to prove a ‘local connection’ to join a housing register - a change linked to the Armed Forces Covenant’s principle of no disadvantage due to service. Do note: this doesn’t guarantee top priority in every case; councils still assess overall housing need.
Standards now matter as much as bricks. A new Consumer Charter is due to lock in basics: a reliable move‑in standard, quicker urgent repairs in line with Awaab’s Law timeframes, clearer information before you move, and a named housing officer for every family. The Department says these commitments will be in place by December 2025 and will be backed by an online repairs portal.
There is short‑term work underway too. Winter repair teams have been boosted across contractors and a £400m programme has been tackling damp and mould, heating failures and long‑term empty homes since 2024. More than 1,000 previously unused properties have already been refurbished and brought back into use, with thousands more homes receiving energy efficiency improvements such as new doors, windows and roofs.
If you’re wondering where new civilian‑and‑military neighbourhoods might appear, early signs point to places like RAF Brize Norton and Catterick Garrison, where planning for several hundred new homes was flagged after the Annington buy‑back. Homes England’s purchase of Ripon Barracks to deliver 1,300 homes shows how defence land can feed wider housebuilding, and the Treasury’s taskforce expects more sites to follow.
A quick explainer on the Annington deal, because it’s central to the story. In 1996, most married‑quarters homes were sold off and leased back to the MoD. That model left taxpayers paying rent while still footing maintenance bills. In December 2024 the government agreed to buy back 36,347 properties; completion followed in January 2025. Officials say this ends about £230m a year in rent and lets the MoD redevelop, demolish or rebuild where needed. Independent reporting also confirms the scale of the transaction.
And a quick explainer on the Armed Forces Covenant in housing. The Covenant is the UK’s promise that those who serve should face no disadvantage compared with other citizens. In practice, England has removed the local‑connection barrier for veterans seeking social housing, but the Covenant doesn’t mean automatic top‑band priority; allocation still depends on assessed need, vulnerability and local policy. Understanding that distinction helps you set realistic expectations when applying.
What this means for you. If you’re in Service Family Accommodation, look out for clearer pre‑move information, a named housing officer and a tighter repairs standard from December 2025. If you’re a veteran, you can apply for social housing without a local‑connection test and should reference the new rules when speaking to your council. If you live near an MoD site earmarked for release, expect public consultations as mixed‑tenure neighbourhoods come forward under the ‘Forces First’ approach.
How to read the next year like a pro. Promises are big; delivery will hinge on planning consents, construction capacity and keeping funds flowing through the next Spending Review. Watch for site‑by‑site updates from the MoD and Homes England, the Strategic Defence Review’s housing allocations, and whether the wider planning reforms actually lift housebuilding - the OBR thinks they could. We’ll keep tracking whether this Strategy turns into warmer, safer homes, street by street.