We bought a house because there were no married quarters where I was posted to, supposedly for a three year tour. Due to "the exigencies of the service" (i.e. a co** up by the posting officer) I was posted to another base 70 miles away after my training course finished; another officer was likewise screwed around by being posted to my slot; because there were no MQs he had also just bought a house before I found out and despite being as p'd off as much as I was about it, wasn't prepared to swap postings.
In the aftermath, which included GW1 and being me moved between fixed wing and rotary wing tours twice, my wife lived in our new house for two and a half years while I was there for a total of about ten months. It caused huge pressure on all of us, especially as we had young kids involved. Because my wife had been put in a situation where she wasn't living on base, she got no support or contact from anyone within the service during my absence.
It got to the situation where I had to choose family or the RAF; I took my 38/16 option and left.
Good luck!