Military housing: Families say they’re living in damp, mouldy conditions
Dozens of military personnel and their families say they’re having to live in damp, mould-infested housing without heating.
Some say they’ve been waiting days or sometimes weeks for repairs.
One mother who has a nine-month-old baby said there was “black mould everywhere”.
The Ministry of Defence said it was unacceptable that some military families were not receiving the level of service they deserved.
It said it was working with its contractors to improve the service.
As temperatures have dropped, some of the military personnel have turned to social media to highlight the problem.
In a rare show of public frustration, Captain Will Matthews tweeted: “Tired of living like this. Cupboards unusable due to never ending damp/mould. Drafty windows. No loft insulation, cold house all the time.”
He filmed what his family, including young children, have to live with.
Tired of living like this. Cupboards unusable due to never ending damp / mould. Drafty windows. No loft insulation, cold house all the time. Damp everywhere. At least it’s not where our baby sleeps either…. Oh, wait. Hang on #Snapped pic.twitter.com/I0oFLsnb2a
— Capt Will Matthews RE (@The_RE_LE) December 13, 2022
Military accommodation is overseen by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation. Several contracts have been awarded to manage the defence estate – with no one company having overall responsibility for the service delivered.
Between April 2021 and May 2022, service families made 6,729 complaints about their accommodation. Some believe the system is getting worse.
Have your say.
Are you serving and living in terrible conditions? Send us pictures and videos of your accommodation and we will keep pushing this until the government listens and supports better living conditions for service personnel.
