A new Defence Housing Service which will have
Armed Forces families at its heart has moved
forward with the appointment of
its first Chair, ahead of its formal establishment next
year.
Natalie Elphicke Ross OBE has been appointed as the Interim
Chair of the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) new Defence Housing
Service. She will play a crucial role in leading the
transition to the new organisation, ensuring it is ready to
deliver for military personnel and their families from day
one.
Natalie's appointment comes as new data shows that the
improvement drive led by Ministers to fix the
dire state of Forces housing is starting to bear
fruit with the latest survey data showing
a significant rise in satisfaction levels among
those living in military homes.
Data collected by Opinion Research Services on behalf of the MOD
shows overall satisfaction with military homes has increased by
12 percentage points over the past year, with 75% of
families now saying they are satisfied.
The new Defence Housing Service
team is now benchmarking their performance against
social housing landlords, and the data shows that for the
first time satisfaction is higher than the
national average for civilian landlords.
Satisfaction with the MOD's repair service has also improved over
the same period, rising by 15 percentage points from an average
of 45.5% in 2024/25 to 60.7% in 2025/26.
The creation of a standalone, professional Defence housing
organisation was a key recommendation of the £9 billion
Defence Housing Strategy, published in
November.
The Defence Housing Service is being established in law
through the Armed Forces Bill and will be responsible
for managing almost 50,000 military homes across the UK.
With a service ethos at its heart, it will deliver the
recommendations of the housing strategy, including a generational
renewal of nine in ten Forces homes and
the acceleration of the long-term potential
for 100,000 new homes of all types on surplus
defence land.
Natalie Elphicke Ross, who was Chair of the Defence Housing
Strategy Review Team, has a wealth of experience in the housing
industry, including as Chair of The Housing & Finance
Institute. A former law firm partner specialising in housing
finance, she has advised central and local governments,
lenders, developers and housing associations on
financing, structuring and delivering homes across all
tenures. She previously established a new consumer
standards body and ombudsman for newly built
homes.
Ross, Interim Chair of
the Defence Housing Service, said:
Our pride in our armed forces must include pride in our military
homes. The Defence Housing Service must drive through a
generational renewal to rebuild, refit and refurbish
defence homes, meet military operational requirements and make
service to military families central to the new organisation.
That will be at the heart of my work as the first chair of the
Defence Housing Service.
Defence Secretary MP said:
The Defence Housing Service will deliver a generational renewal
of military homes, turning the corner on years of sub-standard
military homes and providing the step change in quality and
service that our Armed Forces families deserve.
Natalie is an excellent appointment and I look forward
to continuing to work closely with her to drive that mission
forward.
Army Families Federation Housing
Specialist Cat Calder, said:
I worked closely with Natalie in the Defence Housing Review and
know first-hand how determined she is to see improvements in
Defence housing. I am pleased to see that she will continue this
as the first chair of the Defence Housing Service. I look forward
to continuing to work with Natalie and the whole DHS team to
drive much better outcomes for service families.
The MOD is already delivering on its mission to
transform Armed Forces housing, completing a raft of
commitments made to Service families. This includes upgrades to
1,250 homes in the last 12 months, with a further 2,000 more
planned this financial year, modernising outdated policies,
improving move-in standards and setting up a dedicated committee
that puts the voices of families at the heart of decision making.
