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.
Natalie Elphicke 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 John Healey 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.
