Concern over 'poor' military homes

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And more than a third of the families surveyed by the National Audit Office said that the home provided for them by the Ministry of Defence had not been properly cleaned before they moved in.

In the parliamentary report, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee urged the MoD to introduce a deposit scheme, so cleaning charges can be deducted from servicemen who leave properties in an unsatisfactory state, along with a record of tenants who have failed to look after their accommodation properly.

The committee said that many of the 42,000 families using service accommodation have little or no idea what their new home will be like when they move, and called for them to be provided with estate agent-style details, including photos and floor-plans.

And they urged the MoD to cut the proportion of its 50,000 properties in the UK which are standing empty - currently running at 17%, well above the official target of 10%. Every percentage point reduction in empty homes could save the MoD £2 million, said the cross-party committee.

The MoD operates a four-tier ranking system for forces accommodation, with 90% of properties rated in the top two tiers, meeting the Government's decent homes standard. But the report showed that the proportion in the top tier fell from 57% to 35% between 2008 and 2009, while the second tier grew from 37% to 59%.

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

"Far too many properties are currently standing empty - almost one in five. This is a poor use of resource. The department needs to speed up its decision-making and bring more of these properties into use or dispose of them.

"Service personnel have to move regularly but they are given very little information in advance about the houses they have been allocated. And, when they arrive, too often the property has not been cleaned properly and repairs have not been done.

"The MoD should improve its processes for the hand-over of properties."