Military quarters, are they good or are they bad (UK)?

Question

One woman with a few photos of run down quarter and a sob story has the Nation thinking the British Armed Forces don't care living standards. When I lived in quarters the used to do inspections and if you reported a problem it was fited, they even rehoused you if need be. Has it changed where are you based and are they good or are they bad.

Gingertod if you could be bothered to read the details of my question you would know "I lived in quarters" I hope your from the usa becase when I lived in military housing problems were reported and sorted.

If your not from the UK haven't seen the news and don't know what I'm actually talking about don't reply.

Answer 1

It is not a sob story it is the reality where i live there are houses which are collapsing as they are flooded ... The contract for repairs has been handed over to a civvie company and you have to go via a switch board and then they take forever .In my last quarter we had a leak in the attic which ended up with the plaster bubbling and after months and a collasped wall downstairs as the leak ended up wetting the main front wall from top to bottom .Where i live now i have windows with three inch gaps and mould everywhere I am still waiting for them to come out and fix my faulty boiler and i have been here almost 6months .. the windows leak and they are rattling with the wind it is a second class housing system and my hubby is a high rank .The budget doesnt cover minor repairs like windows heating etc places like the one shown on the tv do exist i know i have just come from one which was very much like that and no one seems to care .I had a surveryor round at christmas she spent over 2 hours listing the faults and they only rehouse you if for eg your ceiling collaspes i has no heating or hot water for three days in my last quarter and it was not classed as urgent as it summer

Answer 2

The state of Married Quarters have been on the decline since the MOD handed over to Defence Housing Executive (DHE). Little work is being done because of the massive overspend on new equipment and the Service people are ones that are suffering due to the incompetence of the civilians who are running the military. The march in/out of quarters used to be approx 2 hours long, now it's just a quick look around hand the keys over and walk out. Standards are also poor because of lack of pride by the person marching out, with the attitude of it was dirty when I marched in, I will leave it dirty when I march out. I have done 7 march in and outs and have left the Quarter in a top condition ready for the next person to just walk in, often leaving bare essentials, T. Bags, Coffee, Sugar etc with a list of contact numbers and shop info. Times have changed for the worse and no self pride by the occupant. The priority now is to hand over as many Quarters to Annington homes to sell to the general public after they have spent vast am mounts of money modernising them at your expence.

Answer 3

I LIVE the dream in a UK quarter!Its pants. We are housed in a 2 bed place, that is old/ tired/and in need of a make over. The walls are all wood chip, magnolia.the units in the kitchen are so narrow, my washer sticks out proud. I have 8 units in which to store ALL my kitchen things, none of those units shut properly!
I have no room for a dishwasher, even if i wanted one.
The lounge is so small i had to sell a sofa as it would not fit.
These places are NOT adequate for modern day living!
The carpet in the lounge reeks, as the previous occupants had 2 dogs!Cheesey paws, is not a nice smell.
We are fortunate to have a garage(thankfully, as most of my belongings are still in boxes out there..) as we were forced to move to a 2 bed place, rather than a 3 bed, as it was above my husbands allocation(which was a total farce, as we should be in a 3 bed, they got it wrong, at our expense!)
You cant ever imagine what its like to live somewhere that is old/ shabby/ and also know that your husbands PROMOTION bought you here!
We do have our own property, but we live im MQs as we move area alot!
YES some areas have been improved, always on the cheap!
modern housing in the RN/RM army RAF, is about 20 years behind the real housing market!
as you can see, housing where iam is pants.
It seems we are just shoved in somewhere that will do!
On my last out muster i was told i would have to pay£250 for it to be deep cleaned.. all it needed was a coat of magnolia!
Housing is now a business, as are all of our ARMED FORCES!
A business, thats all, we as humans dont matter!!

Answer 4

I don't know the answer to this, but I would guess they can't be that bad because people wouldn't stay in the forces if it was so awful, and I'm sure we'd hear a lot more about it if they were.

Whatever people say about our government I am pretty sure that every British person appreciates what out armed forces are doing for our country, and are thankful that they don't have to do it themselves, so I'm quite sure the government ensures that enough money is invested into the forces so that they are able to have a good standard of living. Of course there are always going to be exceptions to the rules, but these are just that - exceptions, not the norm.

Answer 5

I have stayed in many barracks, over many years, some good some very bad. The only time I have seen similar to these photos are when parts of the toilet block has been made out of bounds and can no longer be used and thereofre no longer cleaned. The other baths/showers in the toilet block will at least be 'clean' though may be in disrepair.

Answer 6

I was based in engalnd and German accomadation and i have never experienced anything like the pictures. We had clean our blocks evry week for inspection. i cannot believe that with the army nowadays that living accommadations are really that bad, the pictures are appalling and why has it only taken till now to say something? honestly im not sure whether i fully believe the accommadation is that bad.

Answer 7

i stayed in barracks in the 80s 90s where the bottom floor could Not be used because of rat problems lived in houses which were that bad rats not live in them UK forces get the **** end of the stick all ways wages housing equipment hospitals but they still do it because they are the best it about time things where made public to help them

Answer 8

i has just come from a base nere aldershot and the quarters were bad windows wouldnt close there was damp on walls and when we made complaints the answer we got was it was ok 6weeks or so so live with it and the classic was there is not money to fix all the problems

Answer 9

Would you put your Kids in a cage with a hungry American pit bull....One lad in my unit had a wife and two daughters one girl got a serious electric shock from a dodgy plug socket turned out that the live wire was so badly stripped it was poking out of the side of the socket, the Kitchen window was broke boarded up when they moved in this was never fixed I complained to my O.C he told me it's only temp accommodation i.e P*ssoff can't be bothered...He was killed in action 3 months later one week after his wife got the telegram she got her notice, 1 month to get out....Hows that for Sh*t on....and that wasn't reg Army that's SAS....

Answer 10

i have stayed in a few over the years.....the quarters are not really the problem as work is constantly being done, it is the squalor that the single guys have to put up with....on Ops we don't care, but when the place is your home we do.....why are you bothered, we have to put up with it anyway....?

Matt....there has been two reported broken windows in my Platoon lines for three years...what army are you in

oh and yes, my guys have been a bit busy of late....i think the least they can expect is somewhere decent to stay when they come home!