Work to rectify damp and mould issues in military homes being done 'at pace'

Work to eradicate damp and mould in service accommodation is being done "at pace", according to the organisation responsible for its upkeep.

The director of accommodation at the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) said £123m was being invested this financial year to improve the thermal efficiency of military homes.

Military families in January told Forces News about their concerns over black mould in their service accommodation and the effects they believe it is having on their children's health.

The man responsible for managing services' housing, Phil Riley, said more than 1,300 homes had received an upgrade so far, with "many more to come".

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Writing a message in the DIO's monthly newsletter, the accommodation director said call wait times, response times for heating failures and missed appointments all required a shake-up.

Apologising for these past challenges, Mr Riley said: "After some difficult conversations and a lot of hard work, things are getting better."

Maintenance contractors Vivo and Amey have increased their resources to improve response times, and the maximum financial penalties available will be imposed where progress is slower than expected.

Looking ahead to a busy 2024, Mr Riley spoke of how 700 previously void Service Family Accommodation homes were supporting the relocation of eligible Afghans fleeing the Taliban in their home country and moving to the UK as part of the ARAP programme.

The DIO accommodation director explained how new homes to replace some of those in the ARAP programme would be paid for through the Capital Purchase Programme.

He also noted that the funding for work to support the ARAP programme was "not coming at the expense of UK service families".

Mr Riley admitted the introduction of the New Accommodation Offer, aimed at being live from 11 March, would "come with its own challenges".

But he said the DIO was working hard to give more than 1,000 void homes a full makeover to bring them back into service and help meet an increase in demand.