The UK government has announced a £9 billion, decade-long plan to modernise and rebuild more than 40,000 military homes across the country, the UK Defence Journal understands.
The initiative, described as a “generational renewal” of service accommodation, marks the largest investment in Armed Forces housing in over 50 years.
Under the new Defence Housing Strategy, properties in Scotland and across the UK will receive upgrades, with around 14,000 homes undergoing major refurbishment or replacement. The programme will also create a new Defence Housing Service to manage properties directly, keeping them in public ownership while prioritising the needs of service families.
Defence Secretary John Healey said the strategy aims to put “forces first” by improving living standards and boosting morale. “Our British forces personnel and our veterans fulfil the ultimate public service. The very least they deserve is a decent home,” he said. “We can’t fix forces housing overnight, but this effort is already underway and will now accelerate.”
In Scotland, 3,078 service family homes will benefit from upgrades, including 221 in Argyll and Bute already under refurbishment. The programme follows the government’s recent Annington Homes deal, which returned 36,000 properties to public ownership and is expected to save the taxpayer £600,000 a day.
The strategy also proposes using surplus defence land to build over 100,000 new homes for both military and civilian families. A Defence Development Fund will recycle proceeds from land sales into future housing projects, supporting wider efforts to “get Britain building” and drive economic growth.
Personnel and veterans will be given priority access to new housing built on former defence sites, while eligibility for service housing will expand to include long-term partners and non-resident parents. A new rental support scheme will also help service members access private accommodation while additional homes are delivered.
Healey said the programme reflects “a clear break from years of chronic underinvestment” and demonstrates that defence investment can strengthen both national security and the economy.
“Annington Homes deal, which returned 36,000 properties to public ownership and is expected to save the taxpayer £600,000 a day”. proof if ever it were needed, that sub-contracting always costs more, and never works.
In defence of the current government (hear me out, guys), they do seem to be pushing for more infrastructure and quality of life changes for personnel in the armed forces, which will make a difference long-term with regards to retention.
If we could see the same with regards to equipment, that’d be great. AFAIK, the only orders we’ve seen so far have been those six iLauncher systems for Sky Sabre (and the accompanying support vehicles), the bridging contract with Germany, and the decision to swap 12 of the F-35Bs for F-35As.
DIP, nominally scheduled for release by end of CY, may provide some insight/guidance re equipment acquisition. Rats…er… politicians, rapidly exhausting time and space to E&E. 😉