I know you said you didn't want to go down the welfare route however if your location is still correct then the 'in house' SSAFA people at Uxbridge are very good and did have a good working relationship with DHE there.
Go see them...they're a nice bunch and maybe they can negotiate a garage for a while. The accomodation problem you might be stuck with until the rank tabs are firmly on your shoulder. For something like this it would be more a case of asking a mate for some help for a while rather than welfare issue and they wouldn't make a big deal out of it...Promise!