What is the state of Armed Forces accommodation?

Lord Taylor of Warwick has received a written answer that got me thinking:

"Asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will increase funding for upgrading and refurbishing army family accommodation; and, if so, by how much. [HL2342]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): The Government attach a high priority to the needs of service personnel and their families. For that reason we plan to spend in excess of £3 billion on improving and upgrading Armed Forces accommodation over the next decade. Included within this sum is over £600 million for upgrading and refurbishing family accommodation. We are having to make good decades of underinvestment and the process will inevitably take time."

Would readers care to shed some light on the true state of the living quarters in which we expect our service personnel to live? Are there marked differences between the Army, Royal Navy and RAF? Did the low quality of family housing lead anyone to expedite their departure from the Forces?

All input gratefully received!

Tom Greeves

Update: The Armed Forces Families Continuous Attitude Survey 2007-08 showed that 45% of Army officers' spouses and 69% of RAF officers' spouses said that they were dissatisfied with their living quarters. The other ranks weren't too happy either.

Thanks to CCHQ for the figures.