Information and guidance on civilian housing
Civilian housing options; information for service personnel and their dependants.
About
The Defence Transition Services (DTS) team is the MOD’s tri-service focal point to provide service personnel and their dependants with civilian housing information for those wishing to move to civilian accommodation at any time in their career, and for those during resettlement to assist with the transition to civilian life.
DTS, together with colleagues in the Veterans Welfare Service (VWS) can provide advice and guidance to help you make informed choices on your civilian housing options as you transition out of the forces.
A referral will include consideration of your housing needs as well as issues affecting other aspects of your life. You can approach your respective welfare teams to make a referral via a DTRP 1 form or make a self referral on a DTRP 2 form.
In line with the Government’ Strategy for Our Veterans, the Joint Service Housing Advice Office (JSHAO) and its outputs were reviewed. A revised set of these outputs is now delivered by Defence Transition Services (DTS), part of Defence Business Services (DBS) and the JSHAO brand no longer exists. This brings efficiency to the co-ordination and delivery of the through-career transition information and support services, meeting the needs of the Service community now and in the future. As part of this merger we have now incorporated the MOD Referral Scheme into existing Defence Transition Services/Veterans Welfare Service support mechanisms.
Service family accommodation (SFA)
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), on behalf of MOD manages a comprehensive SFA maintenance service; the allocation of properties; SFA furniture; conducting move in and move out appointments; and the provision of improvements. Contact details available on the Service Family Accommodation website.
For enquiries about loss of entitlement to SFA resulting from retirement, redundancy, discharge or estrangement, please contact the DIO Loss of Entitlement Team by telephoning 01904 418000 or 94510 8000. Alternatively, you can contact them by email: [email protected]
Civilian housing briefs
DTS delivers an annual programme of civilian housing briefings to help inform and guide Service personnel and their families about the choices available to them and the need to plan ahead. Briefings are open to all Service personnel and their families, at any stage of their Service career.
These briefs are designed to give you the information to help you make informed choices on your civilian housing, the briefings cover the following areas:
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house purchase (including Forces Help to Buy), private rental
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independent financial advice (provided by the Service Insurance and Investment Advisory Panel members), social housing
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affordable home ownership schemes.
Brief dates for 2024/2025
To register for the Civilian housing briefs please the click the link in the table for the date you wish to attend and provide your details.
| Date | Start Time | End Time | Type of Brief |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14/11/24 | 14:00 | 15:30 | Civilian Housing brief |
| 12/12/24 | 14:00 | 15:30 | Civilian Housing Brief |
| 16/1/25 | 14:00 | 15:30 | Civilian Housing Brief |
| 13/2/25 | 14:00 | 15:30 | Civilian Housing Brief |
| 13/3/25 | 14:00 | 15:30 | Civilian Housing Brief |
| 24/4/25 | 14:00 | 15:30 | Civilian Housing Brief |
| 15/5/25 | 14:00 | 15:30 | Civilian Housing Brief |
| 12/6/25 | 14:00 | 15:30 | Civilian Housing Brief |
| 10/7/25 | 14:00 | 15:30 | Civilian Housing Brief |
| 11/9/25 | 14:00 | 15:30 | Civilian Housing Brief |
| 16/10/25 | 14:00 | 15:30 | Civilian Housing Brief |
| 13/11/25 | 14:00 | 15:30 | Civilian Housing Brief |
| 11/12/25 | 14:00 | 15:30 | Civilian Housing Brief |
Please be aware that DTS are unable to assist directly with Forces Help to Buy (FHTB) or Loss of Entitlement (LOE) queries. Service personnel with FHTB enquiries or applications, please contact the FHTB team at [email protected] or 0141 224 3600 (Option 4).
Service personnel with enquiries regarding Notice to Vacate (NTV) letters or retention of SFA, please contact the LOE team via [email protected].
If you require transitional housing advice and guidance please see details of the help we can offer and how to refer to us at the following link - Help for service leavers from Defence Transition Services - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Services Cotswold Centre
The Services Cotswold Centre (SCC) is a tri-Service facility that provides short term transit accommodation for service personnel, their spouses, civil partners and families. Find out more information about the service they can provide in the link below.
Further advice and information
Veterans’ Gateway launched in April 2017 and should be the first point of contact for veterans seeking support.
- Service personnel housing: other organisations who can help
- Service Family Accommodation
- Forces Help to Buy: help to get on the property ladder
- Service leavers’ guide
- Tri-service accommodation regulations (TSARs) (JSP 464)
Contact DTS
Email: DBSVets-DTS[email protected]
Updates to this page
Published 3 October 2022Last updated 8 November 2024 + show all updates
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The Civilian housing brief dates and links for 2025 have been added.
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Removal of references to SPACES - the service no longer exists, removal of duplication of information.
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Additional Housing Brief date for 2024 included.
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removed out of date housing briefs.
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Included dates and links to register for 2024 Civilian briefs.
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Data has been deleted and added to the table
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First published.