What are your rights when living in military housing?
Contractors responsible for fixing issues with military housing have been told to improve or face consequences, including financial penalties, if things don't improve by the end of January.
Anger over the alleged problems in the military housing repair system prompted urgent questions to be asked in the House of Commons, with ministers warning contractors to sort themselves out.
But as someone in military accommodation, what are your rights and what level of service should you be getting?
If your house relies on Pinnacle to task either Vivo or Amey to fix your issue, you are entitled to have emergency calls responded to and the issue made safe within two hours.
An incident is considered an emergency when it threatens imminent risk to people or presents a high risk of extensive damage to either the property or the environment.
Urgent calls should also be responded to as soon as possible and within a 48-hour period.
These are not guidelines, they are rules set out in a contract agreed between the Ministry of Defence (MOD), Pinnacle, VIVO and Amey.
However, the Government has said in too many cases, the response is simply not happening.
Defence Procurement Minister Alex Chalk told MPs that "no home should be left without heating or hot water for more than 24 hours".
He added that if it can't be fixed quickly, alternative heating and hot water or accommodation must be provided.
The MOD has purchased 1,500 temporary heaters in case of this problem and, if someone ends up using one, the Government says it will also pay compensation for the added cost of using a portable appliance.
The Government has also said it is "profoundly dissatisfied" by the performance of Amey, Pinnacle and VIVO and says they must improve now.
It comes after members of the Armed Forces took to social media claiming that issues with their housing were not being resolved.
One British Army officer shared a video that he claimed showed the poor condition of his service family accommodation, including 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.
A mother living in Army housing also told of how she was "told off" for using an "unauthorised" engineer to fix the heating in her military home.
On Sunday 11 December, Army mother of two Madison tweeted: "Why Army accommodation is a JOKE: it’s -5°C, there's snow, you have a one-month-old baby (and a 3 yo) and when your heating breaks @PinnacleSF don't consider it an emergency to get an engineer out to you until Tuesday, nor to provide heaters.
"We had to pay privately for an emergency plumber to come out today because we weren't prepared to be without heating in this weather WITH A NEWBORN."
Related topics
Join Our Newsletter
