“The least they deserve is a decent home.” With that, Defence Secretary John Healey set out a £9bn Defence Housing Strategy that finally puts military housing on a long-term fix. For the North, it points to overdue upgrades on garrisons and new neighbourhoods on surplus MoD land from Catterick to Preston.

Published on Sunday 2 November, the Ministry of Defence says more than 40,000 service family homes will be modernised over the next decade, with around 14,000 rebuilt or given major refurbishment. Ministers are also aiming to enable up to 100,000 homes on surplus defence land, with full details due on Monday 3 November. “They deserve homes that truly feel like home,” the Prime Minister said.

Today’s move follows the Annington deal earlier this year, which brought 36,347 homes back into public ownership and ended a £600,000‑a‑day rent bill. Crucially, owning the estate again lets the MoD rebuild, demolish or add new homes where needed-something it couldn’t do under the old leases.

North Yorkshire is already seeing the pipeline. Homes England confirmed in June that the Ripon Barracks site-Claro and Deverell-will deliver 1,300 homes with a primary school and local centre after planning approval from North Yorkshire Council. The scheme, known as Clotherholme, is due to be built in phases from the vacant Deverell site.

Catterick Garrison is flagged for fresh building too. Government papers last winter said plans would be lodged for around 300 houses at the garrison; separate local consultation in July explored a 100‑home Keepmoat scheme north of Catterick Road. For a town that hosts the Army’s largest garrison, certainty on phasing and services will matter as much as unit numbers.

Over in Lancashire, Weeton Barracks has a new single living block nearing completion-69 en‑suite rooms-alongside a solar array now providing over a third of the site’s power, according to the Defence Infrastructure Organisation. The MoD is also moving up to 1,100 staff into a new office at Blackpool’s Talbot Gateway as part of wider estate changes.

Meanwhile in Preston, Fulwood Barracks-earmarked for disposal-features in the emerging Central Lancashire plan with at least 300 homes expected, subject to detailed masterplanning and heritage restoration of the historic buildings. Local planners will want firm timelines once the Defence Housing Strategy lands.

Ministers say defence land will lead a broader push to get public sites building again, with a cross‑government taskforce created in March to remove hurdles. In parallel, Network Rail’s development arm is targeting thousands of homes, including major schemes at Newcastle’s Forth Yards and Manchester Mayfield-useful context for infrastructure planning across the North.

The strategy also trails a ‘Forces First’ approach: service families and veterans will get priority access to a share of homes on MoD development sites, alongside new and upgraded service family accommodation to rent. Expect the finer print on which sites, what proportion, and how prioritisation will work locally.

Ministers have already put £1.5bn on the table this Parliament to fix boilers, tackle damp and mould and upgrade the worst stock, backed by a new Consumer Charter promising clearer standards, quicker repairs and a named housing officer for each family. That spend sits beneath today’s longer 10‑year programme.

The scale of the task is not in doubt. A House of Commons Defence Committee report last December called the state of accommodation “shocking”, estimating two‑thirds of Service Family Accommodation and a third of Single Living Accommodation were essentially not fit for purpose-findings largely accepted by government in March. Delivery will be judged on repairs completed and homes built, not promises.

For councils and communities here, the immediate ask is clarity: which Northern sites go first, what funding follows for roads, utilities and school places, and when households can expect workmen on the doorstep. North Yorkshire’s ongoing Local Plan work underlines how quickly those conversations need to move once Monday’s document is out.