- Completion of Consumer Charter
pledge to transform 1,000 worst homes ahead of schedule
- Hundreds more military properties
to be upgraded by the spring.
- The major upgrades show early
delivery of the Defence Housing Strategy – a generational renewal
of military homes.
Military families across the UK will celebrate Christmas in homes
fit for heroes as improvements to fix 1,000 of the worst forces
houses have completed ahead of schedule.
The ambitious programme of works to urgently fix 1,000 military
homes has also now been extended, with a further 250 military
properties to receive priority upgrades over the coming months –
a 25% increase on the target set out by Defence Secretary when launching the Consumer
Charter only eight months ago.
The programme of housing improvements, known as Raising the
Minimum Standards, has seen significant works take place at
service family homes across the UK, with upgrades made to almost
700 properties in England, over 150 properties in Northern
Ireland, over 100 in Wales and over 50 in Scotland.
Works in England include improvements to more than 200 military
homes in Wiltshire and Windsor, as well as homes in Bassingbourn,
Swanton Morely, Woodbridge and Uxbridge.
Homes across the country have received a complete makeover
including new flooring and other improvements such as replacing
unreliable boilers and heating systems, repairing hundreds of
leaky roofs and installing new bathrooms, kitchens, windows and
doors.
These are the first steps of delivery under the MOD's mission to
transform military family housing, with £9 billion of investment
allocated for a generational renewal of defence housing over the
next ten years. The Defence Housing Strategy will see the
modernisation, refurbishing or rebuilding of more than 40,000
service family homes and has been enabled by the landmark deal
made just 12 months ago to bring 36,000 military homes back into
public ownership.
Defence Secretary, MP said:
“Our Armed Forces and their families sacrifice so much for our
country, the least they deserve are safe and decent homes. The
work we've done to upgrade the 1,000 worst homes means that more
families can now enjoy Christmas together in homes that are fit
for heroes.
“This is just the start of our ambitious work to upgrade tens of
thousands of homes across the country, made possible by our
landmark deal to bring 36,000 homes back into public ownership
and backed by £9 billion investment. We are ending the decades of
neglect and giving our dedicated Armed Forces families the homes
they deserve.”
Cpl 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:
“We are really pleased to be in our new home for Christmas.
Everyone is a lot happier here, especially Charlie. 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.”
David Brewer, Chief Operating Officer for the Defence
Infrastructure Organisation said:
“I am very proud of the improvements our teams have made to a
1,000 of our worst homes. This is just the start of a
generational renewal which will see 9 out of 10 homes
improved. We are already seeing the results of the
changes we are making through our charter commitments and
are determined to do even more to improve the homes and
deliver the experience our armed forces deserve.”
The refurbishment of the 1,000 worst homes was just one the
Consumer Charter commitments made by the Secretary of State to
improve the experience of service families. All the Charter
Commitments made in April 2025 are on course to be achieved by
the end of this year, including the implementation of robust
standards, ensuring service families can be confident they are
moving into clean and functional homes, modernised policies
making it easier to personalise homes, and the introduction of a
named Housing Officer for every family to provide greater
support.
These improvements are already being reflected in the results of
monthly surveys of Service personnel, which show a clear upward
trajectory in overall levels of satisfaction.
