MHS Helpdesk Notification - Due to a scheduled system upgrade, access to the MHS IT System will be unavailable from 10:00 on Saturday 21 August – 18:00 on Sunday 22 August.  The MHS Helpdesk will only be accepting Emergency and Urgent routine calls during this outage.  Therefore, if your request does not fit into this category, please contact the MHS Helpdesk on Monday 23 August when all calls will be handled as usual. MHS apologise for any inconvenience.

HIC Area Map – The HICs (Housing Information Centres) have released an updated area map; identifying the locations under the care of each HIC. Click here to see which centre you should contact for your SFA enquiries.

HIC Notification – Ongoing recruitment restrictions, combined with significant staff turnover at all Housing Information Centres, has had a serious impact on their ability to deliver and maintain an effective housing service. After  serious consideration it has been decided that with effect from 1st July 2010, the telephone system into all HICs will close at 15:00 daily. This will allow staff to focus on non telephone related activities. The HICs are still contactable via e-mail; a list of address can be found on the Defence Estates website. The HICs acknowledge that this will cause some inconvenience to their customers which is regretted - the situation will be kept under constant review. The HICs can be contacted on a central free phone number: 0800 169 6322.

Reduced Response Times for Maintenance Issues – Since April, MODern Housing Solutions (MHS) have reduced its routine response time from 20 days to 15 days. This reduction aims to provide a better service to customers and has been brought about through a streamlined administrative process. If you have any contributions about the level of service you have received please get in touch with the NFF.

Affordable Homes – There are numerous housing schemes available to help Service personnel to buy their own homes.  A helpful leaflet has been put together by the Service Personnel Command Paper team, which outlines the schemes available and the additional measures that have been put in place to benefit Service personnel and their families. As Armed Forces Personnel you have “priority status” to access the schemes whilst you are serving, and for a further 12 months after you leave.  Click here to read the leaflet.

Modern Housing Solutions: Improving services - Modern Housing Solutions (MHS) has been restructuring over the last six months, to improve the way services are delivered to Service families. Click here for details on the improvements and future plans.

Are you looking to buy a house? – The Armed Forces Home Ownership Scheme is a pilot scheme, designed specifically to provide assistance to qualifying service personnel, to purchase a home on the open market. If you are eligible, you could borrow between 15-50% of the value of the home that you have chosen on the open market. To be eligible you must have no less than 4 years and no more than 6 years continuous service, and be unable to afford a suitable home on your own. Funding for the scheme is limited and applications will be taken on a first come, first served basis. For more details about eligibility for the scheme, click here.

Relocating and the Redirection of Mail - Are you moving out of your Service Family Accommodation? If so read this document from Modern Housing Solutions, which provides helpful advice regarding the redirection of your mail. Personal documents can contain a lot of data and information about you, especially bank and other financial documents. This information can be used by others to steal your identity and so it is important to ensure that you mail is correctly redirected to your new address.

Work Begins on New Centre for Veterans at Risk of Homelessness - Construction work has begun in Catterick, North Yorkshire, on a pioneering training and housing centre for veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflicts, who are at risk of homelessness. For further details visit the MOD website.

Service Families Accommodation Under The Microscope:

The findings of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee Report (PACR) on Service Families Accommodation has been released.  Here are some of the headlines following the NAO survey of 12,427 Armed Forces families:

• Almost a third of families describe the condition of their house as "poor".
• Over a third were dissatisfied with the cleanliness of their property on moving in.
• Nearly a quarter of families consider their properties to be poorly maintained.
• The Departments entitlement system is complex, and Service personnel have limited ability to request a property outside their strict entitlement.
• Families receive very limited information about their property when allocated.
• The Department needs to develop better mechanisms for communicating with occupants.

We attend a number of meetings with Ministers, Defence Estates and Modern Housing Solutions on your behalf.  Housing is our biggest issue – 38% of all enquiries centre on housing.  Considering the small proportion of our families living in Service Families Accommodation that does not sit comfortably in the NFF office.  There is definitely a willingness to do more and improve the state of ‘the estate’. What’s the answer?  Well in a nutshell, more investment in Service Families Accommodation combined with more accessible and affordable home purchase schemes would seem to be a good start!

What do you think?  Comments please……..

For more information please click here.

Rowner Upgrade - If you have any issues, questions and queries concerning the development plans for Rowner please contact the office and we can get a response for you.

Defence Estates – Improvements to New Carpet Process - To improve the procedure for the ordering and fitting of floor coverings, DE and MHS have revised their internal process. This new ordering process will reduce the backlog of orders and ensure that a timely fitting service is swiftly reinstated. Click here for guidance on what to do if you believe you need a new carpet.

Council Tax Discount for Home Owners in Wales - Military personnel who own homes in Wales, but live in Ministry of Defence accommodation elsewhere, will qualify for a 50% cut in council tax. This change will bring Wales in line with the rest of the UK where the discount is automatically applied to those who have a second home in Wales which is not permanently occupied. Click here for more information on the BBC website.

Homebuy Schemes to be Extended to Service Families - The Government has revealed further plans to increase home ownership by extending its Homebuy scheme to the armed forces by the end of 2009. Click here for further information.

Application to Occupy Service Family Accommodation (SFA) - Click here for a new copy of the MoD Form 1132 to apply for SFA.· Please be aware that from September 2009 this will be the only version accepted by the Housing Information Centres (HICs).· An updated version will shortly be available on the DE Internet. If you have any queries please contact your local HIC.

Moving Out of SFA: New Pre-payment Cleaning Scheme – A Pre-Payment Cleaning Scheme is to be introduced to all Service Family estates covered by MHS. This is the only cleaning scheme approved by DE and MHS; it has been specifically constructed to reduce the stress of move-out on the family and the cleaning is guaranteed to meet the move out standard. The property will be cleaned once you have moved out and so the occupant is free to walk-away once the keys have been handed over to the Housing Officer.  For further details please click here.

Affordable Housing Scheme - The MOD has released a Defence Internal Brief on the Extension of access to Affordable housing scheme options to Eligible Armed Forces personnel. Click here to read the key points.

£50m Improvement for South West Military Accommodation

Hundreds of service personnel and their families will benefit from accommodation improvements sooner than expected, following a £50m injection from the Treasury. The investment is being spent on improvements to RAF, Army and Royal Navy single living accommodation and service family accommodation throughout the UK. The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in April that £50m was being advanced from the years 2010/11 and 2011/12 to the current year (2009/10) for spending on Service accommodation. Welcoming the announcement, Vice Admiral Tim Laurence, Chief Executive of Defence Estates, said: “More than 1,500 Service personnel will benefit directly from this initiative. The advance of spend for capital projects, together with £10m of funding which we have also made available, will allow us to accelerate our building and modernisation programme. This is excellent news for everyone.” Click here to read the full press release.

National Hedge Reduction Programme UPDATE -

In accordance with wildlife laws, operatives undertaking this task must review each hedge before cutting to assess any risk to wildlife. They must follow a detailed method statement to assess the risk and if there is wildlife present, or if the assessment is inconclusive,  operatives must not commence cutting. Click here for more information.

National Hedge Reduction Programme

MODern Housing Solutions (MHS), on behalf of Defence Estates Ops Housing (DE),has been tasked to carry out a full hedge reduction programme across all Service Family estates in England and Wales (this does not include PFI estates). The programme is taking place during 2009 and will continue until at least the end of March 2010.

The non communal hedges that fall under the contract have been measured to determine if/how much work is required and occupants are now being notified in writing of appointment times to reduce these hedges.MHS will be cutting hedges on a street by street basis to a common height of 1.6m unless an existing embedded fence is higher, in which case the hedge will be cut to the height of that fence.

If occupants have any queries they should contact the MHS Helpdesk or email them at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Gas and electricity safety certificates - Did you know that without a valid gas and electricity safety certificate for your married quarter you will not be able to book any repairs or maintenance jobs with the MHS Helpdesk (apart from in emergencies).  When you receive a letter to arrange your mandatory gas or electricity inspection please do not ignore it, rearrange the appointment if it is inconvenient.

MHS - Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)

MHS has started to roll out Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) to their supply chain, zone by zone. If you are living in SFA, this should improve the service to you, minimising disruption by reducing the number of visits.

Click here to read the full announcement from MHS. An important point to note is that you should be offered the PDA at the end of the appointment for your comments. If this isn't offered you must ask for it, and if refused please report the incident to the MHS Helpdesk.

Publications from the Scottish Executive - Click to read an article on Housing for people leaving the armed forces.

The Positive Effect of Play - Click here to read an article from MODern Housing Solutions about the positive effects their new Super play parks and Multi Use Games Areas are having on Forces families. The play areas have been built in partnership with Defence Estates Operations Housing (DE).

Service Personnel Now Able to Establish a 'Local Connection'

In December 2008 the Government amended the Housing Act to ensure that Service Personnel are now entitled to establish a local connection in the same way as civilians. This will advantage serving and ex-serving personnel for the purposes of applying for homelessness assistance or an application for social housing.

The amendment also reminds local authorities that the local connection in question may be to somewhere other than where the serving person has most recently lived or worked. It could be the area in which they previously resided, or where they lived before joining the Service.

This change is likely to be most relevant to those about to leave the Service, especially when the last tour of duty was overseas.

To read a letter on this subject, written by the Department for Communities and Local Government, please click here. For further information please contact the authors of this letter.

Immersion Heater Thermostats

Urgent notice to occupants of SFA regarding Immersion Heater Thermostats. Please click here to read this urgent advice from Defence Estates.