Further shame of military heroes being housed in sub-standard accommodation as roof caves in at one – while ‘double standards’ see illegal migrants put up in hotels

Britain has been accused of shameful ‘double standards’ over its military housing scandal, which has seen armed forces heroes left to live in squalid homes while billions are spent on putting illegal migrants in plush hotels. 

Hundreds of families have been forced to endure months in crumbling, leaking properties riddled with mould, with some being left in sub-zero temperatures without heating and hot water during the winter. 

Meanwhile, the UK has been shelling out £8million a day on housing migrants in hotels while soldiers are left in rotting barracks or shifted into shipping containers – with the Home Office this month seeking an emergency £2.6billion cash injection to plug a shortfall in its asylum seeker housing budget. 

So appalling is some of the military housing, it led to a serviceman’s two-year-old girl being rushed to hospital for urgent treatment this month after she fell ill while living in a mouldy property, despite the family raising the alarm with defence contractors. 

And in the latest development in the scandal, an Army family was forced to leave their crumbling home after a wall in the bedroom of their military property caved in, with their complaints about it allegedly being ignored ‘for three years’. 

Former Tory Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois raged: ‘We are operating double standards; some brave military personnel and their loved ones are constantly let down by hapless contractors, while illegal migrants are put up in hotels.  

‘If these contractors continue failing the MoD should sack them and find someone competent instead.’ 

Pictures of the shoddy Army home surfaced on social media and prompted an intervention from Vice Admiral Phil Hally, Chief of Defence People at the Ministry of Defence (MoD), who sources say has been ‘fighting fires’ to try and get on top of the housing woes. 

In the post on X (former Twitter), the latest soldier to complain wrote: ‘I’ve tried fighting this problem for the past 3 years and they’ve done nothing about it. They’ve left it so long that it has now collapsed inside as well.

‘They’ve told me they won’t get anyone out today, and they can’t escalate to the complaints team until tomorrow as they only work Monday to Friday.

‘I said, so what do I do until then, this is my bedroom and I have no idea on the structural safety. Their answer: “Sorry Sir, there is nothing more we can do”.’

The images came on the eve of a grilling of Vice-Adm Hally and other senior defence chiefs by MP sitting on Parliament’s powerful Defence Committee this afternoon who are looking into the woeful accommodation.

Among those to be quizzed includes Tory defence minister James Cartlidge, Major General Richard Clements, the director of army basing and infrastructure at the MoD and Mike Green, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation’s CEO. 

Mr Francois, who is a committee member, hinted the meeting could be ‘very lively’, adding: ‘It’s precisely because of repeated horror stories like this one, that the Defence Committee is conducting an inquiry into service accommodation failings… it could be a very lively meeting.’

Official Government figures show more than 27,000 compensation payouts have been shelled out by contractors to families in the past year totalling £2,256,571.

The shameful state of armed forces accommodation comes as the military continues to face a recruitment crisis, with defence sources warning the shocking state of housing was one of the factors in pushing troops to quit. 

Earlier this month, a post by a military father went viral after he described rushing his baby girl to hospital after discovering her ‘blue and unresponsive’ in their mouldy home. 

The girl reportedly had to be kept on a drip for 24 hours, with her father claiming the damp and mould in his home may have been behind her illness. 

He wrote: ‘I am not the type of person to post on social media or be involved with social media but we are desperate to get justice and find who is accountable for what could have been the death of our daughter and also the current housing situation we remain in.’ 

Meanwhile, Britain has been spending £8million a day on housing migrants in hotels, with some staying in plush four-star rooms. 

The use of hotels has ballooned over the last few years as the number of people entering the UK illegally or claiming asylum soared to record levels.

Some illegal migrant have even been documenting their journey from Europe, across the Channel and into the UK. 

The Government has promised to ‘reduce’ the use of hotels to house migrants while their claims are processed.

But in a fresh blow, bungling Home Office officials were this month forced to seek a £2.6billion after unforeseen expenditure on hotel rooms for asylum seekers. 

Home Secretary James Cleverly made a formal request for cash after a shortfall last year, when Suella Braverman was in charge for more than 11 months.

The plea, made late in the financial year, concerned Diana Johnson, the chairman of the home affairs select committee, who planned to write to Mr Cleverly to ask why the costs were not included in the department’s main estimates.

The additional cash request emerged in a written statement as the latest figures revealed the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats last month was up 13 per cent compared with the same time last year.

In the written statement, Mr Cleverly said the ‘net cash requirement for the year exceeds that provided by the main estimate 2023-24’.

He added: ‘Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £2.6billion will be sought in a supplementary estimate for Home Office. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £2.6billion will be met by repayable cash advances from the contingencies fund.’

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: ‘We are committed to the welfare of service personnel and their families, and the defence secretary has made improving the standard of military accommodation a personal priority.

‘That is why we are investing an additional £400m over the next two years to improve military housing that is available, and more than 3000 homes will have had improvements, including damp and mould treatments, by the end of next month.’

The process to complain about military housing is overseen by Pinnacle, with issues relating to maintenance or repair being dealt with by contracts Amey or VIVO.

Pinnacle has been approached for comment by MailOnline. 

In a statement on X (formerly Twitter) about the collapsed bedroom wall, a spokesperson for the company said they were ‘looking into it’. 

‘We’ve placed the family in a hotel while DIO’s repairs contractors look to get the issues resolved. We’ve been liaising with the SP (service person) today to make sure they’re supported.’

The Defence Committee meeting begins at 2.30pm and can be watched on Parliament TV.