Britain's army families forced to live in houses riddled with 'mould and urine'

Soldier's wives across the UK living in military accommodation have claimed they are provided with houses to live in that are 'black with mould', 'riddled with damp' and have 'urine' stains.

A group of wives and partners told MailOnline they 'are desperately trying to get help' to fix the 'filthy' conditions they are forced to live in, but said that many families are scared to speak out as it would put their husband's jobs at risk. 

The conditions are so poor that one wife revealed that they were given leaflets about dealing with 'legionnaires disease, asbestos and damp' when they moved into their new home.

They said it puts huge stress on soldiers and their young families but it has been happening for so many years that families are 'accepting it and suffering'.

‘We kept getting fobbed off’: Family from the south east reported a water leak multiple times before their ceiling collapsed

One army wife, living in the south east, who asked not to be named, told MailOnline they contacted the housing contractor, Amey, about a leak from their water tank multiple times before their ceiling eventually collapsed, leaving a gaping hole.

She said: 'After nearly five weeks of waiting and four times of hastening a job, to inform them the leak from our water tank was getting worse and being fobbed off each time, our ceiling collapsed.

'Thank god this happened in the early hours as this would have caused awful injury if one of my family was walking up the stairs. 

'We have had our water tank replaced but we are still waiting to find out when the five-foot hole in our ceiling will be fixed especially as its now getting colder and the heat is escaping.' 

'There was a urine stain in the cupboard': Army wife living in Aldershot was given a 'filthy' house with black mould and that was painted over

Another army wife living in Aldershot said that when they moved into their new home it was clear it had not been cleaned or inspected.

'The house was filthy, there was thick brown sticky grease covering the kitchen, the bath was black with mould, there was rubbish in the garden and stains [and] dirt on all surfaces,' she said

She also revealed that there was a 'urine stain in the cupboard' and mould around the bedroom windows which was 'painted over' as well as a leak under the kitchen sink, causing a strong smell of mould and damp in the house. 

British military families are provided with subsidised accommodation to live in while on active duty and can expect to pay a few hundred pounds a month for a house and bills, depending on the size, location and condition of the property.

The average annual salary for Privates in the UK armed forces was £20,400, compared with £27,326 for a Lance Corporal, £35,853 for a Sergent and £42,849 for a Captian. 

'The house was riddled with damp': Soldier's wife in Greater London got leaflets about dealing with legionnaires disease, asbestos and damp when she moved in

Another 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.

She explained: 'As we only have a licence to occupy we have no rights as a tenant like any person renting in a civilian setting would have. 

'We even got leaflets about dealing with legionnaires disease, asbestos and damp in our properties on [move] in. In this day and age it is far from acceptable!'

In one house that she was allocated there was a gas leak in the property that they were left to get fixed themselves.

She also claimed that the house was 'riddled with damp' and they couldn't walk on the carpets in their socks as their feet would get wet. 

'In the morning I had to use a window vac to remove the moisture from the inside which was running down the glass,' she said.

'After four months, lots of stress and complaining as high as I could the property was assessed and subsequently condemned. We were then moved and the damage done to our goods Amey took no responsibility for. We had thousands of pounds worth of damage due to damp.'

After such an 'awful experience' with military housing, she and her husband eventually purchased their own property.

She added: 'Over the years the Ministry of Defence have spent millions on the upkeep of the properties we have to live in but are actually getting very little in return. 

'The contractual stats look good, but they are far from the live experience service personnel have to endure.'

During her time in military accomodation she claimed she witnessed 'bad practice, cost cutting... and [families] being treated like we were second class citizens.'