SAC0021

Written evidence submitted by AS1(T) Harper

Service Accommodation – Call for Evidence

Is there enough money being invested to modernise and future proof military accommodation and how long will it take for all military accommodation to meet an acceptable standard of energy efficiency?

A quick introduction to myself, I am an AS1(T) stationed at RAF Leeming. I have been here for a year now and would like to share my experience with service provided accommodation.

In my own personal experience of single service accommodation, I believe that a lot more can be done to provide a better living situation for our armed forces.

I have been posted at RAF Leeming for a year now and the first 8 months of that was spent in transit accommodation (a temporary place provided for people visiting station for a few days for courses etc; not meant for long term living). I have now been put in what is called a ‘T-Block’, a middle ground between transit and SLAM (single living accommodation).

The state of the transit accommodation is not great, from walking into it you can tell it is a very old building and is essentially falling apart, and from speaking with the accommodation cell, there are plans for it to be knocked down in 2030, so from this no money will be spent on this to improve its condition. The bathroom facilities are another downfall with this building, they are in poor condition and will not be improved.

The T- block I now currently live in; the main downfall again is the bathroom facilities. For some reason the showers have been fitted with a plastic tray. For a normal civilian bathroom this would have been no issue but having multiple people use this shower daily, its condition has quickly deteriorated and is turning orange and mouldy.

What would be a nice addition to the block is if there were cooking facilities on all corridors, currently there are only oven-tops on the bottom floor corridors. Therefore, if there was more money allocated to improve service accommodation this would be a nice improvement. Having spoken with SNCO’s they have said that they wouldn’t live in these blocks and as a junior rank that doesn’t settle well knowing that there is nothing that I can do to change where I live.

On a positive note, I have on courses stayed in some very nice and modern accommodation. St Omer Barracks in Aldershot has excellent accommodation facilities. Their transit accommodation is single person rooms with en-suite – something I will not get at RAF Leeming for another 18-24 months. There is a waiting list for SP to receive SLAM accommodation and for this I am currently in the hundreds. If this isn’t enough evidence to show that there is an issue, then I don’t know what is.

My overall experience with service provided accommodation is unfortunately negative and I hope from this document some positive action can happen and although maybe not in the short term but in the long term I hope for personnel in years to come can finally have a positive experience and be happy with where they live.

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.

20 October 2023