A third of British military homes in 'poor' condition

The report by the Public Accounts Committee also said that almost of quarter of military families thought their homes were badly maintained while almost one in five of the properties the MoD owned was standing empty.

"The standard of accommodation for the families of our servicemen and women is of continuing concern to this committee," said Edward Leigh, the committee's chairman.

The MoD owns some 50,000 properties in Britain, providing accommodation for 42,000 service personnel and their families.

About half of families surveyed thought their homes were in good condition but a third thought it was poor.

According to the report, about 90 percent of the housing stock was rated within the top two of the MoD's four condition standards. However it said more properties were now in the second band (59 percent) than the top tier (35 percent).

"Service personnel have to move regularly but they are given very little information in advance about the houses they have been allocated," Leigh said.

"When they arrive too often the property has not been cleaned properly and repairs have not been done."

Veterans Minister Kevan Jones said the MoD was spending 3 billion pounds over the next 10 years to improve the housing stock, and all the homes that currently fell within the bottom two condition standards would be upgraded by 2013.

About 20,000 families are moved every year and Jones said they were working to reduce empty properties to 10 percent by 2012.

"The report rightly recognizes both the size and challenge we face, and the huge effort we have made to improve the standard of service accommodation," he said.

The Conservatives said the government was guilty of failing families of those in the Armed Forces.

"Despite their promises, too many service personnel and their families are living in homes that fail to meet the government's own decent homes standard," said Shadow defence Secretary Liam Fox.

"The last thing service personnel should have to worry about while on operations in Helmand is whether their family back at home is being taken care of."

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