Damp and mould reported in Single Living Accommodation takes an average of 20.94 days from the report being made to the work being completed, according to an answer given in Parliament.
James MacCleary, the Liberal Democrat member for Lewes, asked what the average time is between damp and mould being reported in Single Living Accommodation and works being completed to rectify it.
Calvin Bailey, Parliamentary Under-Secretary and Minister for Veterans and People, said: “As of 23 October 2026, the average time between damp and mould being reported in Single Living Accommodation and works being completed was 20.94 days.”
An average of twenty-one days covers cases cleared within a few days and others that run considerably longer, and the department has told Parliament separately that it cannot supply the longest outstanding waiting time without disproportionate cost. Damp and mould in service accommodation became a political issue after the death of Awaab Ishak in Rochdale in 2020 led to Awaab’s Law, which imposes fixed timescales on social landlords in England for investigating and repairing hazards of this kind.
Service accommodation falls outside that regime because the Ministry of Defence is not a registered social landlord, and the department instead applies the Decent Homes Standard to family housing and a Defence Minimum Standard of its own design to the blocks. The blocks were last assessed against that standard in 2023, when 72 per cent met or exceeded it.
There have been 31,540 urgent reactive call-outs to Single Living Accommodation since the start of January, and forty-three buildings are currently scheduled for refurbishment. Capital spending on the blocks reached £299 million in 2024-25, and the Defence Investment Plan sets aside £1.4 billion for them over this Parliament.
An independent review of Single Living Accommodation and the overseas estate began in January 2026 and is expected to report this autumn.
