GovWire

Guidance: Service Family Accommodation

Defence Infrastructure Organisation

June 27
09:40 2023

Overview

The provision of good quality homes for Service personnel and their families is an important priority for the Ministry of Defence (MOD).

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) manages around 49,000 homes in the UK on behalf of the MOD and is also responsible for planning for future requirements and targeted improvement programmes.

DIO operates four Regional Accommodation Maintenance Services (RAMS) contracts which provide statutory and mandatory checks, repair and maintenance services and the preparation of allocated homes for Service families. Amey Community Ltd manage the Northern and Central regions and VIVO cover the South East and South West.

On behalf ofDIO, Pinnacle Group Ltd operate our UK National Service Centre through the National Accommodation Management Services (NAMS) contract. This provides a single point of contact for requests from families living in Service Family Accommodation (SFA) including raising repairs and maintenance issues, the allocations of homes and conducting move-in and move-out appointments. Contact details can be found on the Pinnacle Service Families website. Pinnacle also provide DIO with consolidated management information, which DIO uses to manage the four regional contracts directly.

Example image of Service Family Accommodation shows a modern semi detached house with garage and shared front garden of green lawns.

Service Family Accommodation in Buckinghamshire (MOD/Crown Copyright).

The Customer Service Charter SFA Customer Charter (PDF, 1.32 MB, 4 pages) is DIOs commitment to Service personnel and their families to provide decent living standards and excellent customer service. We are committed to improving the condition and standard of the Service Family Accommodation (SFA) estate; sustaining improved levels of maintenance and repair performance; and enhancing customer service.

Latest news for SFA residents

Update 27 June

Included in this issue of Families First:

  • Performance update on Accommodation contracts
  • Broadband boost for Service Personnel and their families
  • Summer Safety Notice
  • Key dates to note
  • Useful links

Families First - Issue 8 (PDF, 902 KB, 2 pages)

Update 24 May

Included in this issue of Families First:

  • Landlord Gas Safety Inspections (LGSIs)
  • Update on Damp & Mould taskforce
  • Planning for Move-in, Move-out and Removals this Summer
  • Investment across the SFA estate
  • Useful links
  • Key dates

Families First - Issue 7 (PDF, 517 KB, 2 pages)

Update 18 May

Landlord Gas Safety Inspections (LGSIs)

DIO and its suppliers are undertaking an important programme of works to carry out Landlord Gas Safety Inspections (LGSIs) across the SFA estate. This programme of works will commence on 22 May 2023 and is scheduled to complete by the end of June 2023.

You will be notified via letter if you are impacted. For families with short notice appointments during the week commencing 22 May 2023, you may also receive a telephone call and email from the suppliers.

It is vital that VIVO/Amey and their sub-contractors are allowed access to your home to carry out these inspections to ensure your family and neighbours remain safe. The Chain of Command across all three Services is supporting this programme and has agreed for Service personnel to make their SFA their place of duty on the day of appointment except where they are on essential duty elsewhere. DIO staff and unit staff have worked together to ensure that visits are planned around unit commitments wherever possible.

Families normally receive a one-hour slot for LGSI appointments. However, this has been temporarily paused for this important programme and an engineer will attend your home between the hours of 8am and 8pm. We understand this may inconvenience some families and we are sorry for this, but we need to maximise engineers time in your area to allow them to visit as many homes as possible throughout the day to complete the LGSIs.

LGSIs are required by law for all occupied rented homes and LGSI certificates need to be renewed every 12 months. It is vital that the engineer can access your home to conduct this mandatory safety inspection, providing access for this important safety visit is one of the terms of your licence.

Update 5 May

Included in this issue of Families First:

  • a message from DIO Director of Accommodation
  • performance update on accommodation contracts
  • key dates to note
  • current and future SFA investment
  • useful links

Families First - Issue 6 (PDF, 517 KB, 2 pages)

Update 3 April

Included in this issue of Families First:

  • TechSee technology rollout
  • performance update on Accommodation contracts
  • key dates to note
  • current and future SFA investment
  • useful links

Families First - Issue 5 (PDF, 602 KB, 2 pages)

Update 17 March

Included in this issue of Families First:

  • Update on how DIO and its suppliers are tackling damp and mould

  • Performance update
  • Key dates to note
  • Current and future SFA investment
  • Useful links

Families First - Issue 4 (PDF, 700 KB, 2 pages)

Update 7 March

While DIO continues to routinely collect information about the standard of Service Family Accommodation, it is important to us that we have the fullest possible picture of the condition of our Service family homes. This will help us to achieve maximum future investment in our Servi

Related Articles

Comments

  1. We don't have any comments for this article yet. Why not join in and start a discussion.

Write a Comment

Your name:
Your email:
Comments:

Post my comment

Recent Comments

Follow Us on Twitter

Share This


Enjoyed this? Why not share it with others if you've found it useful by using one of the tools below: