British Army officer 'tired of living like this' as baby sleeps in mouldy military home
A senior British Army officer has hit out on social media following claims a private firm responsible for the upkeep of military homes failed to carry out necessary works.
In a post on Twitter, the Army officer shared a video which he said showed the poor condition of his service family accommodation, which includes severe mould and condensation throughout the property.
The video also shows his two-month-old baby sleeping in a cot in the bedroom that appears to be affected by black mould.
The officer also included pictures of his military mess dress, which appeared to be affected by mould and mildew. This type of uniform usually costs in the region of £1,200 to purchase privately.
The officer's claims over his damp and mouldy accommodation comes as other serving soldiers have hit out on social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook, with claims children were left in freezing homes after the firms responsible for maintaining UK military homes failed to fix broken heating systems.
In a post on Twitter, serving officer Captain Will Matthews said: "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.
"Been reporting it since July, to get it fixed in time for winter. And yet, here we are... I've got a diary of all the calls, where someone will call us back etc. Never happens. Tried online, responded to their default 'please DM us with the issue….', get the usual response."
He added that he would now have to put in an insurance claim to replace the damaged soft furnishings and clothing.
Forces News approached Capt Matthews for permission to share his account in this story.
Other similar cases have been reported on the social media site, including by families who say they have had no heating or hot water since April 2022.
Collapsing ceilings, major leaks, and floods to homes are among the complaints that have been made – with claims made that some cases are still awaiting any response at all.
Some of the people also claim they have taken time off work at their own expense and contractors or engineers have failed to show up, on more than one occasion.
In March 2022, the Ministry of Defence awarded a £144m contract to the accommodation management service provider Pinnacle Group.
Pinnacle is responsible for 49,000 military homes and provides the lead customer-facing role for those reporting issues to their homes.
A spokesperson for Pinnacle Group said: "Pinnacle is not responsible for the repairs, maintenance or condition and upkeep of military homes, our role is to take calls from families and raise the repair job, which is then transferred to VIVO Defence in the South East and South West, and Amey in the central and Northern regions.
"All repairs due to loss of heating in the winter are classified as urgent.
"However, Pinnacle are only able to offer appointments to families where VIVO/Amey have availability to attend."
Commander of Aldershot Garrison, Lieutenant Colonel Nick Burley, posted to Twitter: "Sat in a garrison housing meeting with representatives from @VIVODefence and @PinnacleSF and it's a litany of failure.
"Lots of good people in the room but none of us have access to the levers of improvement. Disappointing @mod_dio our people deserve so much better than this."
In response to these claims, an MOD spokesperson said: "It is unacceptable that some of our personnel and their families are not receiving the level of accommodation services that they deserve and we are investigating what happened in this case with our suppliers.
"Loss of heating and hot water should be responded to as soon as possible and within 48 hours."
In March 2021, VIVO Defence Services won an £810m contract for a 50/50 Joint Venture between Serco, the international provider of services to governments, and ENGIE, the leading energy and services company, for the repairs and maintenance work for Service Family Accommodation (SFA), from the MOD's Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO).
Jerry Moloney, Managing Director at VIVO Defence, said: "Providing maintenance for military family homes is a huge responsibility and we take this very seriously, as every person living in the nearly 30,000 properties we look after rightfully needs a secure, warm and safe environment to live in.
"As soon as an issue is received, diagnosed and sent to us, we respond according to the priority status given so that we deal with emergency and urgent cases the quickest.
"At this time of year and with the severe cold snap, there has been a significant increase in heating issues and we prioritise these, with the most urgent cases requiring a permanent fix within 48 hours. We also provide heaters if we are unable to fix the problem on our first visit.
"In addition, if we see a family post about an issue on social media about an issue where something has not gone to plan, or a family needs our help urgently, we make contact, apologise and seek to repair the issue as quickly as possible."
In another case, previously reported by Forces News, an Army mother says she was forced to call out an emergency plumber and pay herself for urgent repairs which should have been covered and repaired by a private firm.
She said the maintenance company involved refused to prioritise her broken heating system as urgent – even though she has a newborn and a three-year-old child living in the military property.
VIVO maintains more than 14,000 military homes, covering Salisbury Plain, Gosport, Bristol, Devon, and Cornwall.
Its South East region includes more than 13,000 homes across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, London, Kent and Essex.
Another company being slammed by military families is the property maintenance firm Amey plc.
Amey was awarded an MOD contract for the Central and North region in June 2021.
The Central region includes Central England and Mid and South Wales and the contract is worth £124m in total. The Northern region includes Scotland, Northern Ireland and North Wales and that contract is worth £83m.
An Amey spokesperson said: "Amey works alongside Pinnacle and Vivo to carry out reactive and planned maintenance to military housing on behalf of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation.
"We endeavour to respond to all emergency call-outs within 48 hours, however, we recognise that on rare occasions these times are not met. If residents are having issues with this service we advise that they contact the Pinnacle contact centre."
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