Eligibility and Waitlists

Most housing eligibility factors outlined below are verified by our counselors using the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) and we are not able to make exceptions if this information is incorrect.  It is imperative that military members keep their DEERS record accurate for smooth housing eligibility determinations.  You can access and update your DEERS record through MilConnect.

Who is Eligible

Generally, the following personnel are eligible for family housing:

• Military personnel with one or more dependents

• DoD civilian employees 

• DoD-sponsored civilian employees

On Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders or Duty Under Instruction (DUINS), eligibility does not ensure availability of or assignment to military housing. Other personnel may be eligible for military housing including unaccompanied or pregnant military members, Coast Guard, etc., based on military housing availability and other local conditions.

Bedroom Eligibility

Navy Housing has set minimum bedroom standards for the home based on both pay grade and family size/composition.  This is dependent upon inventory availability at a local installation.  Minimum standards based on pay grade are:

Officers/Senior Enlisted

Enlisted Personnel (E1-E6)

Bedroom eligibility for enlisted personnel is based on family composition.  Where inventory permits, families will be eligible for one bedroom per child and a separate bedroom for dependent parents.  Navy Housing’s general guidelines include:

• Parents should not share rooms with children

• There should be no more than two children per room

• Children 6 or older should not have to share a room with members of the opposite sex

• Children 10 or older are eligible for a separate bedroom

Special Circumstances

Navy Housing recognizes that families such as single parents, dual military married couples, and dependent parents, exist and there is a need to accommodate them.  Special considerations are made based on availability and local policy.  You will need to check with your local Housing Service Center (HSC) to determine whether you are eligible for military housing at a particular installation. Examples of possible special considerations are:

​Have Questions?  Visit our FAQs!

Assignment Process

Assignment to Housing

Once the required documents have been submitted, you will be placed in a queue for housing until you are within 30-45 days of your arrival.  For planning purposes, Navy Housing (for Navy-owned) and our Partners (for privatized) do not typically reserve homes for greater than 30 days.  Your local Navy HSC can tell you when they begin assigning homes, as this may vary by installation.

If military housing is readily available within your timeframe, an offer for housing will be made by the appropriate housing office—Navy Housing for Navy-owned and Partners for privatized housing—based on eligibility and assignment priorities and procedures.

If housing is not readily available, or you are seeking a specific neighborhood that does not have homes readily available, you will be placed on a wait list for housing by Navy Housing based on your eligibility and assignment priorities until a home becomes available.

To learn more about assignment priorities and wait lists for military housing, please the Understanding Wait Lists tab above.

Assignment Priorities

Housing is assigned by the applicant’s assignment priority, which is a combination of their “control date” and priority categorization.

Control Date

The control date is generally the military member’s actual date of detachment stamped on PCS orders.



* Note that your actual date of departure stamped on your PCS orders, not your estimated date of departure, determines your control date.  Assignment priorities can be made with estimated date of departure, but your position on a wait list (if applicable) may change if the dates are different.

Priority Categorization

All applicants fit into a priority; this prioritization is in place to ensure priority to military members and provide those with the greatest need for military housing a reasonable timeframe for obtaining it.



Have Questions?  Visit our FAQs!

Understanding Wait Lists

Wait lists are the single most confusing part of the assignment to housing for our customers.  This page is intended to help you understand Navy Housing’s policies and procedures, which are in place to provide fairness and equity in housing.  Housing is by its nature a local concern, so local rules may be in place that further restrict how the wait list is managed beyond what is in CNIC-wide policy.  Please contact your local Navy HSC to ensure you have the most accurate information for your installation.

Control Date

The control date is set as follows:

• Military Member:  The control date will be the date of detachment from the last permanent duty station

• Civilian Employees:  The control date is the effective date of transfer as shown on the Notification of Personnel Action (SF50)

• Military Members with equal bedroom entitlement and the same control date:  In cases of Service Members of equal grade and date of rank applying for housing at the same time, the Service Member with the greatest length of service will precede the other on the waiting list.  When Service Members are of unequal grade, the more senior Service Member will take precedence

Wait List Position

Being on a wait list does not guarantee that housing will be available when you arrive.  When your assignment priority is established, you will be given a wait list position (which tells you the number of people in front of you on the wait list).  Note that if you were provided a wait list position based on your estimated departure date, your assignment priority may change when your actual departure date is provided, and consequently your position on the wait list.

The wait list is not static and your position may change in both directions until you reach the freeze zone.

Moving Up on the Wait List

Your position on the wait list may move up for a variety of reasons. Some examples include:

• Those above you have been assigned housing

• Those above you on the wait list defer assignment to military housing due to personal circumstances (e.g., they are in a lease they can’t break until later in the year)

• Those above you no longer want military housing

Moving Down on the Wait List

Your position on the wait list may move down also.  This is because even after you are on a wait list, assignment priority (i.e., control date and priority categorization) rules still apply for all applicants.  This is to ensure fairness to those who receive short or late change PCS orders and minimizes the benefit for applying early.  These shifts in wait list position will occur until you are in the “freeze zone.”

Wait List Freeze Zone

All wait lists have a “freeze zone”.  The freeze zone is the top 10 percent of personnel on each wait list and freezes your position on the wait list from being lowered.  Once you are in the freeze zone, no other personnel can jump your position on the wait list.  The only exception to the freeze zone is for key and essential billets; all others with higher assignment priority than those in the freeze zone will fall directly below the freeze zone.

Have Questions?  Visit our FAQs!

Courtesy Moves

Local moves, also known as courtesy or intra-station moves, are government-funded moves of household goods within the same city, town, or metropolitan area under authorized circumstances.

Local moves are most often authorized when family housing is not available for assignment following a PCS move, and Service Members must find temporary housing in the community until the family housing becomes available.  Local moves may also be authorized when directed by competent authority on the basis of a service requirement.  Local moves are not authorized for the Service Member’s convenience or morale.  The Housing Service Center (HSC) works with the Service Member and their family to make the local move as easy as possible.

Eligibility

There are several different circumstances that may indicate eligibility for government assistance:

• Local moves to or from government housing

• Local moves to or from privatized housing

• Temporary moves to and from government or privatized housing

• Directed by competent authority to vacate local economy quarters

• Other considerations include landlord foreclosure

• Exceptions: The Commanding officer of the Installation has the authority to make exceptions to this policy that does not conflict with law or other regulations

Considerations for Requesting Local Moves

It is important to contact your installation HSC for specific command eligibility and terms when you first arrive.  Rejecting offers of military family housing may disqualify you from a future local move.  This does not disqualify you from housing, just from a government-funded move.

Generally, Service Members must contact the installation HSC within 30 days of arrival to retain rights to a local move.

Required Documents for Military Housing Applications

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