Married quarters
There is petition running calling for MOD's New Accommodation Offer for armed forces personnel to be reviewed.
It calls for further engagement with affected personnel to shape the policy before its execution.
Further details state:
The petition may be viewed at the following link: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/648516
It calls for further engagement with affected personnel to shape the policy before its execution.
Further details state:
At present, the New Accommodation Offer has been poorly received by a number of service personnel who will be affected. If the policy is implemented as it currently stands, we believe that armed forces retention rates are likely to fall to even lower levels than those at present. This could have an irreversible effect on the capability of the armed forces over both the immediate and intermediate term.
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So are they planning to have a mass upheaval and swop everyone around till they then are in the houses they are then entitled too?
There is also the other things to think about, moving on posting from say a 4 bedroom to a 2 as some might have to do, will mean that two bedrooms worth of extra furniture plus that on the ground floor to get shot off if you have bought your own.
It also means if you are the likes of a Major you need to start breeding or rent a couple of kids to reduce your allowance drop.
There is also the other things to think about, moving on posting from say a 4 bedroom to a 2 as some might have to do, will mean that two bedrooms worth of extra furniture plus that on the ground floor to get shot off if you have bought your own.
It also means if you are the likes of a Major you need to start breeding or rent a couple of kids to reduce your allowance drop.
This is nothing but a cynical attempt to force people out onto the open market, be that rental or purchase. All in order to hide the fact that the housing stock is dilapidated and in short supply.
It will blow up in their faces but probably won’t be felt for 3 years or more. Thats handy for those that have implemented it.
BV
It will blow up in their faces but probably won’t be felt for 3 years or more. Thats handy for those that have implemented it.
BV
While I don't necessarily disagree in some aspects, it is worth noting that the main thrust of this I believe was to ensure that the size of your family, not the size of your bar code/pips, is what determines the size of your house. Be worth seeing the same data on entitlement for NCO/junior ranks
The right answer to that was clearly "do the correct housing stock" but given defence has to mango halves and a sharpened guava to rub together, I believe they assessed what they could do based on "now".
Regarding being booted out of an existing house (Nutty's point) isn't there a JSP rule somewhere that once you're in, you're in. I.e. the policy would start to hit as people move, rather than stay out. That'll put some interesting dynamics on the posting roster...."get posted to job XX and take the hit on the house, or stay put and avoid divorce".
Avoid imitations
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Housing, especially for those with families is a highly sensitive topic. It was one of the reasons I took my 38 point option to leave. I never minded living in poor conditions but I didn’t see why my family (wife + 3 young kids) should. Having lived in very poorly maintained MQs for years, I was posted to a station where all the OMQs were being gutted and rebuilt and was told not to expect to be allocated one during my tour. I asked to retain the quarter we were in. The request was instantly denied and I was told to apply for a surplus quarter, which I did. The MQ allocated was over 50 miles in the “wrong” direction. So I would be commuting almost 260 miles for three years to see my family. Then, due to “further exigencies of the service” I was told my posting would to a station another 75 miles away where again I would not be able to get an MQ. We bought a house. Two years later, with less than two years to my 38 point I was posted back to my original station. I realised that my card seemed to be marked and lost the desire for another 17 years of the same.
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So I would be commuting almost 260 miles for three years to see my family.
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Rather that than an Audi….
I posted these photos some time ago, but in the circumstances thought it worthwhile reposting them here
Some photos from my album of themarriedquarter we occupied in the Bunte Garden area of Monchengladbach way back in the early 1970's. Most of our neighbours worked in JHQ plus there were some who worked in Ayrshire Barracks in Moenchengladbach and a couple of others who worked at an Army depot near Dusseldorf.
I installed the rotatable antenna on the roof so we could receive TV from Dutch and Belgian transmitters as well as German stations. Dutch and Belgian TV tended to broadcast many BBC and American shows in original English with Dutch or Belgian sub-titles whereas German TV often dubbed these into German, overall it worked very well indeed.
Above views of our lounge and dining room.
One routine my wife and I got into was on Saturday to go shopping over the border in Venlo – the market was fabulous, especially for fruit vegetables and fish and being Holland flowers too!
Finally - being not far from Borussia Monchengladbach's football stadium, on home-match days fans parked everywhere - this is our quarter besieged by cars!
Enjoy - WT!
As a PS these quarters have all been knocked down and the site has been redeveloped.
WT
Some photos from my album of themarriedquarter we occupied in the Bunte Garden area of Monchengladbach way back in the early 1970's. Most of our neighbours worked in JHQ plus there were some who worked in Ayrshire Barracks in Moenchengladbach and a couple of others who worked at an Army depot near Dusseldorf.
I installed the rotatable antenna on the roof so we could receive TV from Dutch and Belgian transmitters as well as German stations. Dutch and Belgian TV tended to broadcast many BBC and American shows in original English with Dutch or Belgian sub-titles whereas German TV often dubbed these into German, overall it worked very well indeed.
Above views of our lounge and dining room.
One routine my wife and I got into was on Saturday to go shopping over the border in Venlo – the market was fabulous, especially for fruit vegetables and fish and being Holland flowers too!
Finally - being not far from Borussia Monchengladbach's football stadium, on home-match days fans parked everywhere - this is our quarter besieged by cars!
Enjoy - WT!
As a PS these quarters have all been knocked down and the site has been redeveloped.
WT
Last edited by Warmtoast; 14th Feb 2024 at 21:44. Reason: Add PS
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Bit different from single officer accommodation in many messes 
Tiny room with single bed mattress based upon a park bench, toilet and bathroom "down the corridor" Stunnning (!) view of the building opposite out of the window. As a thirty year old it was a case of buying a house locally and getting the hell out.
Tiny room with single bed mattress based upon a park bench, toilet and bathroom "down the corridor" Stunnning (!) view of the building opposite out of the window. As a thirty year old it was a case of buying a house locally and getting the hell out.
Bit different from single officer accommodation in many messes Tiny room with single bed mattress based upon a park bench, toilet and bathroom "down the corridor" Stunnning (!) view of the building opposite out of the window. As a thirty year old it was a case of buying a house locally and getting the hell out.
Tiny room with single bed mattress based upon a park bench, toilet and bathroom "down the corridor" Stunnning (!) view of the building opposite out of the window. As a thirty year old it was a case of buying a house locally and getting the hell out.
Maybe distance lends enchantment but I have happy memories of growing up in what is now Merlin Road at RAF Binbrook each side of 1950. The prewar terraces were well built and if there were any faults they were promptly tackled by MPPW (Ministry Public Building and Works). But then the country still had respect for the Servicemen who had saved them from German lessons only a few years before.
Now and again we are shocked by TV pics of the mould and dereliction in married quarters which are farmed out for maximum profit by the stock exchange cowboys. Indeed some MQs are considered uninhabitable for our thousands of illegal immigrants. And we wonder why our Services cannot recruit? Kipling knew this feeling:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play[size=8333px].[/size]
Now and again we are shocked by TV pics of the mould and dereliction in married quarters which are farmed out for maximum profit by the stock exchange cowboys. Indeed some MQs are considered uninhabitable for our thousands of illegal immigrants. And we wonder why our Services cannot recruit? Kipling knew this feeling:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play[size=8333px].[/size]
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A friend's father is in charge of one of the 3 ( or 4 ? ) regions of the UK for the current provider as far as maintenance is concerned. If what my friend says is correct, then his father has NO office support, just answerohone , and he spends all his time on the road liaisng with subbies. There is obviously no time, no personnel planned in to do any supervision or quality pass-offs. He has been doing this job for quite a few years, so also under Carillon and the one before them..
Speaking as an outsider, it sounds unbelievably mean to an unspeakable, unacceptable extent.
Speaking as an outsider, it sounds unbelievably mean to an unspeakable, unacceptable extent.
I might suggest that for the upper echelon, the triangle becomes inverted and the potential savings are 'redirected' accordingly. A radical thought perhaps...
The only people this will negatively affect are those SP who are old enough to have grown up children who leave the family home and are therefor no longer entitled to a larger home, or Officers who no longer have larger homes purely because of rank.
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As the child of an Army officer I have only happy memories of living in married quarters (aka "hirings"? ). I do remember though being cautioned about causing damage because "every scratch will be measured".
Sad to realise that there is less respect for the forces and their families now.
Sad to realise that there is less respect for the forces and their families now.
As the child of an Army officer I have only happy memories of living in married quarters (aka "hirings"? ). I do remember though being cautioned about causing damage because "every scratch will be measured".
Sad to realise that there is less respect for the forces and their families now.
Sad to realise that there is less respect for the forces and their families now.
Last edited by Toadstool; 16th Feb 2024 at 12:23.
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I posted after reading #50 and #51 above.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
https://news.sky.com/story/two-year-...-says-13075413
Two-year-old girl became seriously ill 'because of mouldy military housing', serviceman says
A serviceman has claimed his baby daughter became seriously ill while living in mouldy military housing, despite the family raising the alarm with defence contractors.
The allegation was posted anonymously online via the well-regarded @MilitaryBanter (Fill Your Boots) social media account that shares posts about military issues.
Vice Admiral Phil Hally, the Ministry of Defence's chief personnel officer, responded on X, formerly known as Twitter, to say he would "personally take up this case with the DIO".
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) is responsible for service accommodation, with two companies - Pinnacle and Amey - contracted to respond to any problems.
Previous complaints about military housing, including mould, rats and broken heating, prompted Grant Shapps, the defence secretary, to say last September that improving service accommodation was one of his priorities. However, the latest claims indicate there is still much work to do.
On Sunday evening, Alfi Usher, who runs the Fill Your Boots account, told Sky News "it's time those in military accommodation have the same rights and protections [as civilians] against conditions such as long-term mould, damp and housing disrepair".
In his anonymous post, the serviceperson said he and his partner first reported "serious damp and mould" in their property to Pinnacle on 11 November last year, when their daughter was just 21 months old. "The most affected areas are the kitchen and our vulnerable daughter's bedroom," he wrote.
The family was advised to clean and bleach the areas but the mould kept returning.
The serviceman claimed it took seven weeks for anyone to come and assess the mould. During that time, he said his daughter experienced "unexplained breathing issues which resulted in an emergency ambulance being called to the home".
The person who inspected the properly said "extensive work" needed to be done, according to the allegation. The serviceperson said the case was then referred to Amey and another inspection carried out. But he claimed that he was not made aware of the results of the survey.
He said his daughter became unwell again earlier this month, coughing and vomiting. The serviceperson said [on] "the morning of 11 February 2024, on her second birthday, we noticed our daughter becoming unresponsive, floppy and blue".
She was taken to hospital and kept on a drip for 24 hours.
The serviceman, in his post, raised concern that exposure to damp and mould may have been a factor in causing his daughter to become sick.
He said he finally acquired a copy of the survey into his property which he claimed confirmed that it was unsafe to use so the family moved into temporary accommodation.
He wrote: "I am not the type of person to post on social media or be involved with social media but we are desperate to get justice and find who is accountable for what could have been the death of our daughter and also the current housing situation we remain in."…..
Two-year-old girl became seriously ill 'because of mouldy military housing', serviceman says
A serviceman has claimed his baby daughter became seriously ill while living in mouldy military housing, despite the family raising the alarm with defence contractors.
The allegation was posted anonymously online via the well-regarded @MilitaryBanter (Fill Your Boots) social media account that shares posts about military issues.
Vice Admiral Phil Hally, the Ministry of Defence's chief personnel officer, responded on X, formerly known as Twitter, to say he would "personally take up this case with the DIO".
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) is responsible for service accommodation, with two companies - Pinnacle and Amey - contracted to respond to any problems.
Previous complaints about military housing, including mould, rats and broken heating, prompted Grant Shapps, the defence secretary, to say last September that improving service accommodation was one of his priorities. However, the latest claims indicate there is still much work to do.
On Sunday evening, Alfi Usher, who runs the Fill Your Boots account, told Sky News "it's time those in military accommodation have the same rights and protections [as civilians] against conditions such as long-term mould, damp and housing disrepair".
In his anonymous post, the serviceperson said he and his partner first reported "serious damp and mould" in their property to Pinnacle on 11 November last year, when their daughter was just 21 months old. "The most affected areas are the kitchen and our vulnerable daughter's bedroom," he wrote.
The family was advised to clean and bleach the areas but the mould kept returning.
The serviceman claimed it took seven weeks for anyone to come and assess the mould. During that time, he said his daughter experienced "unexplained breathing issues which resulted in an emergency ambulance being called to the home".
The person who inspected the properly said "extensive work" needed to be done, according to the allegation. The serviceperson said the case was then referred to Amey and another inspection carried out. But he claimed that he was not made aware of the results of the survey.
He said his daughter became unwell again earlier this month, coughing and vomiting. The serviceperson said [on] "the morning of 11 February 2024, on her second birthday, we noticed our daughter becoming unresponsive, floppy and blue".
She was taken to hospital and kept on a drip for 24 hours.
The serviceman, in his post, raised concern that exposure to damp and mould may have been a factor in causing his daughter to become sick.
He said he finally acquired a copy of the survey into his property which he claimed confirmed that it was unsafe to use so the family moved into temporary accommodation.
He wrote: "I am not the type of person to post on social media or be involved with social media but we are desperate to get justice and find who is accountable for what could have been the death of our daughter and also the current housing situation we remain in."…..
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And here's a very relevant letter under the heading "Army Exodus" in today's DT from the wife of a serving army officer
Jack
Jack