Called Forces First, the service will manage military homes and keep them in public hands. The voices of forces families will be kept at the forefront of this service with new homeownership opportunities offered for military personnel and veterans.

This will be backed with £9bn in government funding to deliver new and renewed homes, with the aim of offering high-quality modern property standards.

Forces First has been created by the MoD’s new defence housing strategy which is also recommending a generational renewal of military housing. This will include a ten-year programme of housebuilding on surplus defence land to deliver for Britain.

Forces First will also offer priority access to homes built for service personnel and veterans.

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“We can’t fix forces’ housing overnight, but this effort is already underway and will now accelerate,” said defence secretary John Healey.

“By creating a specialist Defence Housing Service, backed by record investment in military accommodation, we will deliver better value for the taxpayer and fulfil our promise to provide homes fit for heroes.”

At the start of the year a deal was struck by the MoD to bring 36,000 military family homes back into public ownership.

A Consumer Charter for Forces Families has also been introduced in 2025 with the aim of improving living standards in these properties. This has included refurbishments to upgrade homes and improvements at over 1,000 homes will be completed by the end of the year.

“Since entering government, we’ve acted rapidly to begin fixing the shameful legacy of unfit forces homes,” said minister for the armed forces Al Carns.

“This strategy is the next step and we will move at pace to implement it.”