DD Form 1746 is the standard application active-duty service members use to request on-installation or privatized family housing during a Permanent Change of Station move. To fill out DD Form 1746, download the current January 2026 revision from the Department of Defense Executive Services Directorate, gather your PCS orders and dependent verification records, complete Sections I through IV with your personal, assignment, and family information, and submit the signed form to the housing office at your gaining installation.1Department of Defense. DD1746 – Executive Services Directorate The form itself is straightforward; the delays usually come from missing documents or DEERS records that don’t match what you write down.
What to Have in Hand Before You Start
Pull these together first. A missing item can push back the control date that fixes your place on the waiting list.
- A complete copy of your PCS orders, including any amendments or endorsements. This is the single most important attachment.
- A valid Common Access Card or other DoD identification confirming active-duty status.
- Dependent documentation: marriage certificate, birth certificates, or legal custody orders for anyone who will live with you. Every dependent must be enrolled in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS), because housing offices verify eligibility directly through DEERS.2Fleet and Family Readiness. Applying for Housing – Fleet and Family Readiness
- Navy personnel: a copy of Service Record Page 2 for dependent verification.3Great Life Hawaii. Application for Assignment to Housing
- Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) enrollment paperwork, if applicable.
- Proof that you cleared properly from government housing at your previous duty station, if you occupied any. Unresolved damage claims or debts can block a new assignment.
Update your DEERS record through MilConnect before you sit down with the form. Housing counselors pull dependent data straight from DEERS, and any mismatch between the form and the system will slow processing.2Fleet and Family Readiness. Applying for Housing – Fleet and Family Readiness
Filling Out the Form Section by Section
The January 2026 version has five sections. You complete the first four; the housing office handles the fifth.4Department of Defense. DD Form 1746 – Application for Assignment to Housing
Sections I Through III: Personal and Assignment Data
The opening blocks ask for your full legal name (last, first, middle initial), pay grade, Social Security number, and DoD component. Check your pay grade against your most recent Leave and Earnings Statement. An outdated grade can put you on the wrong waiting list.
Blocks 10 and 11 cover the installation and Unit Identification Code you are transferring from and the ones you are transferring to. Your orders should list the gaining UIC. Block 12 asks for your official departure date from the losing duty station, your report date at the gaining installation, and, in Block 12j, any special housing needs such as wounded warrior status or a medical provider requirement.4Department of Defense. DD Form 1746 – Application for Assignment to Housing
Block 14 wants several dates in YYMMDD format: your effective rank or rate date, effective change of duty station date, report date, and estimated family arrival date. The effective rank date matters more than the others because it feeds into which housing category you fall into and where you land on the waiting list.5Department of Defense. DD Form 1746 Application for Assignment to Housing
Section IV: Dependent Information
Block 15 is where you list every authorized dependent who will live with you. For each person, enter full name, date of birth, sex, and relationship to you. The housing office uses this information to determine your bedroom entitlement. Two children of the same sex and similar ages may share a bedroom in the count; children of different sexes or with a wider age gap may generate an additional bedroom, depending on what is available in your grade category.
Block 15e is the remarks field, and it carries more weight than its size suggests. Use it to note requested exceptions to standard assignment, accessibility modifications you need (ramp, single-story unit, grab bars), EFMP participation, and expected additions to the family such as a pregnancy. The housing office may ask for supporting documentation based on what you write here.4Department of Defense. DD Form 1746 – Application for Assignment to Housing
If a family member is enrolled in EFMP, disclose it in Block 15e and attach the enrollment paperwork. EFMP status can affect both your priority on the waiting list and the type of unit you are offered.
Section V: Housing Office Use Only
Leave Section V blank. The housing office fills it in after receipt, recording the date and time your application arrived, your effective application date (the “control date”), and your waiting list placement. Once that control date is stamped on your form, your position in line is set.
Signing the Form
Paper submissions require a handwritten signature in black or blue ink. Electronic submissions require a digital signature.
Where and When to Submit
Submit the completed form to the Housing Service Center or Military Housing Office at your gaining installation. Most installations accept applications electronically through the Safe Access File Exchange (SAFE) portal at safe.apps.mil, and some branches maintain their own digital submission systems.3Great Life Hawaii. Application for Assignment to Housing
You do not have to wait until you arrive. Send an advance application as soon as you have your assignment, ideally 90 to 120 days before your planned move-in date, so you receive the earliest possible control date. Navy Housing Service Centers accept advance applications even before final PCS orders are issued; other branches may require finalized orders. Attach your PCS orders (or preliminary notification) and dependent verification documents to the form.
What Happens After You Submit
The housing office verifies your information against your orders and DEERS, then assigns your control date. That date is usually your effective change-of-duty-station date, or another date the housing office designates, and it anchors your position on the waiting list.5Department of Defense. DD Form 1746 Application for Assignment to Housing
Priority Categories
Installation commanders sort applicants into three priority levels under DoD Manual 4165.63:6Department of Defense. DoD Manual 4165.63 – DoD Housing Management
- Priority 1: key and essential personnel, including special command positions.
- Priority 2: service members and equivalent civilians assigned to or attached for duty at the installation, including those on sea duty or at nearby installations served by the same housing complex.
- Priority 3: everyone else not covered above.
The installation commander may deviate from these guidelines case by case when following them would cause undue hardship.6Department of Defense. DoD Manual 4165.63 – DoD Housing Management EFMP families may receive enhanced placement; Navy installations, for example, assign EFMP families a “1A” priority directly below the freeze zone on the waiting list.7Fleet and Family Readiness. Housing FAQs – Fleet and Family Readiness
Waiting List and Tiebreakers
The master list is organized by rank and bedroom entitlement. When two service members of equal grade, date of rank, and bedroom need apply at the same time, the one with greater total length of service goes first. When applicants hold unequal grades, the more senior member takes precedence.7Fleet and Family Readiness. Housing FAQs – Fleet and Family Readiness Some installations keep separate lists for officers and enlisted members, for pet-friendly areas, or for specific neighborhoods.
Receiving an Offer
When a unit matching your entitlement opens up, the housing office contacts you by email or phone with a formal offer. You will generally have a short window, often 24 to 48 hours, to accept or decline before the unit goes to the next person on the list. Declining does not automatically remove you from the list, but rules on how many refusals you get vary by installation. Ask your housing counselor about the local policy when you submit.
One Thing the Form Doesn’t Do: The Lease
Roughly 99 percent of family housing at U.S. installations is now owned and operated by private companies under the Military Housing Privatization Initiative.8U.S. Government Accountability Office. DOD Can Further Strengthen Oversight of Its Privatized Housing DD Form 1746 puts you on the waiting list, but moving in requires signing a separate residential lease with the private landlord.9Air Force Housing. Application for Assignment to Housing and Privatized Housing Briefing Sheet Pet policies, deposits, term length, and termination notice all live in that lease, not on the form. Federal law gives you a written lease with clearly defined terms, a plain-language briefing before signing, and access to the maintenance history of your unit before you sign, along with other protections codified at 10 U.S.C. ยง 2890.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 U.S. Code 2890 – Rights and Responsibilities of Tenants of Housing Units If you have pets or need an accessible unit, raise those points when you submit the form so the housing office can steer you toward the right waiting list from the start.