Tri-Service
MPs Quiz Company After Forces Housing Complaints
Concerns about the state of service accommodation for forces families have been examined by MPs looking at a catalogue of complaints.
The Public Accounts Committee quizzed Carillion-Amey, the company responsible for maintaining homes for the MOD.
It comes after it emerged that some members of the Armed forces have quit in protest due to one in eight service family homes failing to meet the 'decent' standard. One wrote to Forces TV saying:
"[It's] disgusting that forces who put their lives on the line for their country get treated like this."
Satisfaction over the standard of army accommodation is currently at 50% – its lowest for seven years, after noticeably dropping in 2015 and this year, a National Audit Office report found.
Fewer than a third of service personnel living in family accommodation, meanwhile, said they were satisfied with responses for maintenance requests, with 29% satisfied with “quality of maintenance”.
A Ministry of Defence survey in April found 13% of 50,000 service family homes are not in a reasonable state of repair, with "reasonably modern" bathrooms and kitchens and a "reasonable degree of thermal comfort". In a statement the MOD said:
"This is a matter of huge importance to the MOD and we have invested £660million in service housing over the last six years. No properties which are below Decent Homes standards are now allocated to service personnel and their families."
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