'My military home had mould growing in the walls'

A retired army officer fears he has a longstanding cough from living in a military home with "mould growing up the walls" nearly 20 years ago.

Ian Razzell lived with his family in nine different Service Family Accommodation (SFA) homes in 15 years, and, he says, all but one had "substantial issues".

Mr Razzell, of Rutland, who spent 37 years in the armed forces, is now calling for a "root and branch investigation" into the state of military housing.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is set to buy back thousands of military homes in a deal it says will save millions in rent and maintenance costs.

The MoD will acquire 36,347 houses from property company Annington Homes for nearly £6bn, reversing a privatisation deal struck in 1996.

MPs have previously warned damp and mouldy accommodation could see more personnel deciding to leave the military unless improvements are made.

Mr Razzell said he was treated like a "second class citizen" as he flagged maintenance issues with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), which is responsible for maintaining and servicing military accommodation.

The 59-year-old had various roles - from chief of staff for national engagement and mobilisation of clinical staff for operational delivery, to director for international elective rehabilitation and director for a number of disaster planning and recovery projects.

"Every single property had issues, every single time you reported it, you knew that it was going to take months to repair or resolve," he added.

"Often families around us would move in; there would be infestations in the carpets, there would be rodents around the property, there would be holes around window frames that hadn't been replaced for years."

The ex-officer spent time in service housing in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Preston, Donington and in Rutland, among other places.

"I lived in a house that had mould growing in the walls, and we were left there for a number of months before finally, some six months after reporting it, we all moved out," Mr Razzell said.

He and his wife went to the GP who confirmed a cough they had developed was due to the mould, Mr Razzell added.

The veteran said only after visiting the doctor did the DIO send someone to see the property.

Their report said to "get hot soapy water [and] wipe it down", Mr Razzell said.

He now also blames a change in his voice on the time spent living in the service house in Münster, near Dortmund.

Mr Razzell said: "There'll be families around the country who are sat in a house that's not fit for habitation; they'll be there over Christmas," he added.

Mr Razzell's claims were put to the MoD, which responded by referencing the government deal to buy back 36,347 military homes to "improve housing for forces families and save taxpayers billions".

Defence Secretary John Healey said of the deal: "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, not only to fix the dire state of military housing but to help drive forward our economic growth mission, creating jobs and boosting British housebuilding.

"Our armed forces and their families make extraordinary sacrifices: theirs is the ultimate public service.

"It is shameful that in the lead-up to Christmas, too many military families will be living with damp, mould and sub-standard homes – issues which have built up over the past decade."

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