Tight rental market and limited allowance force military families to live in unsafe houses

Many military families are not able to move out of their privatized base housing due to limited basic allowance for housing (BAH) and a tight rental market, according to the Military Family Advisory Network’s (MFAN) recent survey.

Despite lease agreements including home maintenance, more than half of the survey’s respondents said they dealt with poor conditions in on-base housing, with some homes allegedly containing mold, rodents, and other pests, as well as severe health risks.

The survey revealed that families had to decide whether to continue living in such homes and risk long-term health impacts or shoulder the cost of moving their family elsewhere.

“One family was forced to move out of their home after their pediatrician told them their child could not be in the home for more than one hour at a time due to black mold,” MFAN wrote in the study’s interview findings. “The family was charged $356 for wear and tear on their home, and three weeks later, their house was condemned.”

“We spoke with families at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, all of whom said there really weren’t any options outside of base housing. The lack of off-base housing was compounded by the fact that most people were stationed at Fort Leavenworth for just one year. In most such cases, the issues were passed from tenant to tenant,” wrote MFAN.

Congress established the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) in 1996 to address both the shortage of quality, affordable private housing and the poor condition of Department of Defense-owned housing.

A new bill has been introduced in the House and Senate that would tackle these issues, according to The Military Times. Service secretaries were also finalizing a tenant’s bill of rights that would increase accountability and oversight over privatized housing companies, The Military Times reported.

The bill would require privatization companies to pay the relocation costs of service members and their families, as well as any temporary lodging fees, if they had to leave their homes due to adverse conditions.

“It is unacceptable that some military families around the country have little or no recourse when private contractors provide substandard housing. This bipartisan legislation is an important step in holding private housing companies accountable and empowering military families, and I will continue to work with members of both parties to support America’s service members,” said Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) who introduced the bill in the House.