State of Married quarters

Shocking pictures of the state of some of the quarters issued to our brown job colleagues. Seems the contractors, Amey, are more interested in their profits than their occupants.

"An army wife, who lived in married quarters for just under two years in Greater London, said the issues stem from the contractor, Amey, who she claims 'do as little as possible to maximise profit'. Amey, an infrastructure and engineering company, is the provider of Service Family Accommodation for army families across the UK."

Britain's army families given houses riddled with 'mould and urine'

EXCLUSIVE: Soldier's wives living in military accomodation across the UK have claimed they are provided with houses that are 'black with mould' and have 'urine' stains.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Rugby-Jock-Lad]

A major problem as well was the protection given to the company by the Officer Corp and above. Numerous times at "[One of] The most important camp in the RAF (?????????)" HR (forgot to add...that was the WELFARE Officer??? Eh...) were bollocking Airpersonnel for complaining even if it was Wives putting the complaint in. And that was the RAF. Now imagine it in the Army!!! Too much of "We'll have a quiet word" AKA We don't give a damn really and we will not do anything!! Disgusting.......

 

[fourteen2two]

They certainly are bad looking at the photos on Mail online. Perhaps now something will now be done as they do not like bad press. Wives could get their MPs involved!
Any chance of the senior officers doing something? Hmm.

 

[4everAD]

With Future Accommodation Model set to expand (if approved) is the MOD's heart really in spending hundreds of millions on housing that will eventually be handed back to Annington Homes? After all when everyone gets the chance to dip into the private market whilst still paying MQ rates who's going to stay on the patch? The cynic in me wonders if the owner of the Daily Mail has shares in Annington?

 

[Cornish_Pikey]

Not really new news though. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/army-housing-still-not-fit-1941351

Seems the pay and walk away scheme still isn't really working for those involved.

When you cleaned your own house for march out it was to exemplary standards and as you'd saved some cash the march out procedure was strictly adhered to. When you pay you just walk out after a quick vacuum round.

Then the contractors are meant to do a march out clean followed by a march in prep. When I left a large Scottish base MQ I know that neither of those cleans were carried out to any standard. The cleaners were in the house for less than an hour. I asked for a post cleaning invoice to confirm the clean had been carried out and they stated couldn't provide one.

Getting repairs was also a dark art. Always reported ceiling water leaks as coming into the lights. Electrics and water together push the repair much higher up the priority list. Knowing how to report faults properly and not just being gobby to the housing officer went a long way to get stuff fixed.

There's also never any upgrade budgets. However if you reported your sh*tty old double glazing etc. as broken with misted panes then they had to repair which usually meant replacement of the whole window units as the windows were so old they couldn't get the spare parts.

 

[StickyFingers]

Mental how you get charged for everything handing the things back too.

 

[StickyFingers]

With Future Accommodation Model set to expand (if approved) is the MOD's heart really in spending hundreds of millions on housing that will eventually be handed back to Annington Homes? After all when everyone gets the chance to dip into the private market whilst still paying MQ rates who's going to stay on the patch? The cynic in me wonders if the owner of the Daily Mail has shares in Annington?

I'd be looking to buy properties around RAF camps right now, gonna be a massive jump in price and rent requirements. when that FAM comes in.

 

[Spearmint]

Move uniform out and move the refugees in....

They'll soon get the upgrades and fixes put in place once the bleeding hearts brigade get wind of it.

 

[vim_fuego]

Military contracts are awarded after a tendering period. Companies are generally marked on two things: their technical ability to look after something and how much they say they can do it for. What I see numerous times is a decent amount of experience stated then a shockingly low price offered, so low, no one else can get anywhere near and you know for that amount, it’s just to get their foot in the door, that they’ll make a loss, but that loss is part of a bigger picture of contract extensions and price increases. Once a company becomes the incumbent, they are more difficult to shift in future contract renewals. So let’s say this is what happened here…they’ll offer the bare bones in this contract to minimise the hurt to them, whilst keeping their employees busy in what might have been bleak times, all at the expense of service families.

 

[busby1971]

Currently working on a new build logistics depot, final stages, the arguments between FM and Main Contractor about what is a defect and what is a contract variation can be a little feisty at times.

Contracts tend to be sold at a loss knowing full well that the money will be made elsewhere, get your contract right and you can charge £ 150 to change a light bulb and you can claim breach if the client tries to get a round it.

 

[Mustang]

A major problem as well was the protection given to the company by the Officer Corp and above. Numerous times at "[One of] The most important camp in the RAF (?????????)" HR (forgot to add...that was the WELFARE Officer??? Eh...) were bollocking Airpersonnel for complaining even if it was Wives putting the complaint in. And that was the RAF. Now imagine it in the Army!!! Too much of "We'll have a quiet word" AKA We don't give a damn really and we will not do anything!! Disgusting.......

Reminds me of an incident at Shawbury late 70s. An SAC with whom I worked got his wife to complain the the Families Officer (WO) about a problem in their MQ. Next thing the SAC gets a call from an irate WO telling him to get his wife off the WOs back. Sorry sir came the reply, but she's my wife not my dog you'll have to take the matter up with her. Wife then gets back to the WO giving him even more grief. Got the problem sorted though.

 

[AirForce]

Defence Housing Australia

There was a time in the mid 1960's/70's when our married quarters were quite basic and were located within housing commission areas; not so these days as the attached images will show,

defence housing australia at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

However, unlike the British Military our married quarters are unfurnished but our furniture/household goods are moved at public expense on posting.

Many moons ago I worked in RAAF Housing Section on Penang Island and when the RAF pulled out of Butterworth we took over their married quarters. All married quarters in Butterworth, Malaysia were fully furnished. Airmen were provided with an Amah (servant) and officers were provided with an Amah and a cook.

It was a top posting.

 

[norfolkred1]

Mate of mine did a march in and took everything over including the garden waste at the bottom of the garden which was duly noted on the paperwork. Come three years later he handed over the Qtr including the waste at the bottom of the garden.

 

[Oldstacker]

When i lived in MQs i had a servant & cook too... trouble is I'd had to marry her first and she still objects to those roles.....

 

[Cornish_Pikey]

Mate of mine did a march in and took everything over including the garden waste at the bottom of the garden which was duly noted on the paperwork. Come three years later he handed over the Qtr including the waste at the bottom of the garden.

How much garden waste was there, my pride wouldn't have let me leave it there. I'd feel obliged to clean it up to better enjoy my garden.

You've made your mate sounds like a right lazy fecker. If that's the attitude of some married quarter occupants, no wonder nothing gets fixed.

I worked out in quarters there was never any improvement budget but there was always a repair budget. If you reported things as faults they generally got sorted out. You had to be a persistent nagging bugger though. Always tried to leave a quarter in a better state than when receiving it.

 

[norfolkred1]

How much garden waste was there, my pride wouldn't have let me leave it there. I'd feel obliged to clean it up to better enjoy my garden.

You've made your mate sounds like a right lazy fecker. If that's the attitude of some married quarter occupants, no wonder nothing gets fixed.

I worked out in quarters there was never any improvement budget but there was always a repair budget. If you reported things as faults they generally got sorted out. You had to be a persistent nagging bugger though. Always tried to leave a quarter in a better state than when receiving it.

This was around 1980 and proving a point. The lazy git was the previous occupant and of course the Families Officer who failed to get the previous occupant to get rid of it.

 

[Cornish_Pikey]

This was around 1980 and proving a point. The lazy git was the previous occupant and of course the Families Officer who failed to get the previous occupant to get rid of it.

There was a failure on both sides here, I bet the previous occupant got charged foe the housing people to remove the garden waste at march out, money was taken but the waste was not disposed of. First failure.

Leaving garden waste to rot in the garden is just feckin stupid just to prove a point IMHO. Second failure was your mate not taking care of the quarter for the next occupant. I'm not surprised that quarters end up knackered.

I was told upon arriving at the large transport base that noting ever got fixed so don't bother reporting it. That attitude got my back up so I reported every minor repair in my quarter. After a year of not getting stuff fixed the Station Commander held a families forum and asked if we had any issues, I shouted up and ended up with a meeting with him and the Carillion housing people and then unsurprisingly every thing started moving.

By the time I left I'd gotten all new UPVC windows, a new shed roof a very well running heating system and all manner of other things fixed. You just can't let them fob you off with a shit repair job.