The Ministry of Defence has appointed Natalie Elphicke Ross OBE as interim chair of the new Defence Housing Service, ahead of its formal establishment next year.
The new organisation will be responsible for managing almost 50,000 military homes across the UK and delivering the recommendations of the Defence Housing Strategy, which was published in November.
Elphicke Ross will lead the transition to the new organisation and oversee preparations to ensure it is ready to support military personnel and their families from its launch.
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Her appointment comes as new survey data shows rising satisfaction among families 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 MOD said the Defence Housing Service team is now benchmarking its performance against social housing landlords, with satisfaction now higher than the national average for civilian landlords for the first time.
Satisfaction with the MOD’s repair service has also improved, 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 Defence housing organisation was a key recommendation of the £9 billion Defence Housing Strategy.
The Defence Housing Service is being established through the Armed Forces Bill and will oversee work including the renewal of nine in ten Forces homes and the potential delivery of 100,000 new homes of all types on surplus defence land.
Elphicke Ross chaired the Defence Housing Strategy Review Team and has experience across housing finance, delivery and consumer standards. She has previously served as chair of The Housing & Finance Institute and established a 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 said it has upgraded 1,250 homes in the past 12 months, with a further 2,000 planned this financial year.
It said other commitments delivered for Service families include modernising outdated policies, improving move-in standards and setting up a dedicated committee to put families’ views at the centre of decision making.
