Ever wondered what life in military housing is really like? Let’s explore some common myths and misconceptions.
Home sweet home. Where ever I lay my hat… that’s my home (did anyone sing that one?). Home is where the army send us. As an army wife, that’s the hat that really fits for me.
I’ve recently navigated my tenth move, married to a soldier and living in military housing- known in the British Army officially as Service Family Accommodation (SFA) but more commonly called Married Quarters.
The official name for military housing is now Service Family Accommodation (SFA). Such housing was previously known as Married Quarters, and that’s a phrase that is still used.
Along the way I’ve encountered some questions about what life in married quarters is really like. Some questions and assumptions can be quite funny; some are just plain peculiar. Let’s do a bit of myth busting and talk about life in married quarters- the truth.
Myth No. 1: Married Quarters Are Free, They Come With The Job.
“Alright for you, you get your house for free!“
Someone did actually once say this to me. It would be nice, but it simply isn’t true. Rent is calculated at a daily rate and deducted directly from the soldiers wage each month. You also pay additional rent for a garage, should you have one.
Rent rates vary according to property size, condition, location and sometimes even the soldiers rank. Housing charges are subsidised compared to civvy street rates to reflect the lack of choice and limitations of military life.
Every soldier – married or single, accompanied or not- pays for their accommodation. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Or home.
2025 Accommodation Charges can be viewed here.
Myth No. 2: You Don’t Have to Pay Council Tax
There is a bit of truth to this one.
Military families living in SFA/Married Quarters don’t pay council tax to the local authority. Instead, there is a Contribution in lieu of council tax (CILOCT) payment deducted directly from the serving persons wage.
Myth No.3: You Get Absolutely No Say in Where You Are Posted
You do get some influence, but you don’t get the final say. As a military wife, you need to be comfortable relinquishing a lot of the control over your own life.
When the time comes, your soldier will be able to access a jobs list of current and upcoming vacancies known as assignments or postings. This allows you to see the job, the location and the predicted start date. They’ll get to list the ones they’d fancy and even a ‘negative’ to cover the one they really don’t.
The final decision is made by an office in Glasgow according to an algorithm understood by no one. A little while later, could be days or could be weeks, an assignment order – the posting order-will come along and tell you what’s next.
We’ve been lucky and always been assigned our first or second choice of postings. You never know who else is requesting the same post as you or what their grounds are, so you really do just have take your pick and then let it go.
Myth No. 4: You Can’t Pick Your House.
Hmm. Yes and no. When I first accompanied my husband, you didn’t get any choice. You were issued an address- no pictures-and hoped for the best. Quite exciting, really. Fast-forward to 2025 and we now have a system that allows you to view available properties and submit 3 preferences.
Well, that’s the theory. The pictures on the system can be years out of date and military housing shortages mean families are increasingly facing being housed away from the soldiers home base.
So all of that to say, you can’t pick a specific property but you can choose an area and try to sway things your way. Again, you have to be comfortable not being in control.
The house you live in is known as your ‘pad’. If it’s on a military estate, that’s known as your ‘patch’. You might here the children of military families referred to as ‘ Pads brats’. That’s where it comes from.
Myth No. 5: You Have to be Married to Be Housed by the Military
No, you don’t. As of 2020, the British military recognises cohabitation and changed policy to reflect this. You can now apply for housing if you can prove long term relationship (LTR) status and/or have children.
However, the devil’s in the details on this one as there’s a lot of conditions to consider and LTR couples still have less rights and less access to support than married couples.
A quick ‘I do’ is still the fastest and safest way to be recognised by the military.
Myth No. 6: You Have to Pay For Removals When You Move
” I don’t know how you afford all these moves!”
Another one I’ve heard more than once. If we had to pay, I don’t know how we’d afford it either. When moving on posting ( moving because you’ve received an assignment order) you are really well cared for. On this, I cannot fault the MoD.
The moving package covers: fully funded removals service with packing if you want it, hotels whilst in transit, the cost of travel to your new post, a food allowance for the days between homes and a one off payment ( Disturbance Allowance) to meet the out-of-pocket costs of moving.
It’s a generous package and one I’m grateful for. Still nerve wracking watching that truck pull away with your whole life on it, though!
Myth No.7: Married Quarters: You Can’t Decorate the Magnolia Box
Hard no for this one, the days of the magnolia boxes are behind us!
You used to be able to decorate your quarter, as long as it was painted back to magnolia when you handed it back. However, policy changed this year to give the go-ahead to a broader range of colours that can be used in your home without the need to re-paint on departure.
The palette of allowed colours includes cool & warm neutrals alongside pale yellows, blues and greens. If you want to paper or paint outside these guidelines, you still can. It will just need to be returned to neutral when you leave. Find the new colour palette guidelines here.
There are whole on-line communities devoted to making a home out of a quarter. It’s the ultimate compliment if a posted picture gets comments along the lines of, ” You’d never think that was a quarter!”.
Myth No. 8: Your House Comes Furnished by the Army
A fully furnished house is an option if you need it, you’ll get everything you need plus a cooker. No other white goods are provided. If you just need a few bits, you can go part furnished by selecting items from a list.
Both options are good value, with the charges being deducted straight from the soldiers wage. Bit of a theme that, isn’t it?
In the UK, every quarter comes with neutral decor throughout, a cooker, curtains and flooring. The cooker might vary in age and reliability. The curtains and carpets might be older than you and best described as ‘interesting’, but you’ll always get them.
Myth No.9 : The White Glove Test When You Leave.
Definitely a myth, the days of the formidable Housing Officer doing the white glove check are long gone. Standards have relaxed over the years and mostly it’s a good thing; they used to be pretty unrealistic.
There is still- in theory- a standard of cleanliness to hit in order to leave without being charged , known as ‘March Out Standard’. The house should basically be ready for the incoming family to unpack and start living there.
A good march out clean should take a couple of days and it’s a very satisfying thing to do. Nothing beats waving the housing officer in when you leave knowing they won’t find a thing to pick you up on.
Myth No.10: Life in Quarters is Like Living in a Fishbowl.
Everyone has different lived experiences, but I’d say this one is a myth.
Life in quarters is not all rosy. Especially when you live and work together, there can be conflict, gossip and sometimes a lack of boundaries between home and work.
But there’s also a great sense of community, especially when the soldiers deploy. Those left behind tend to come together. Even wives who’ve butted heads in the past show up for each other when it counts.
It can take time to find your place in a new posting. The early weeks can feel strange. But the military community is used to folk coming and going and are a friendly bunch on the whole. A lot of life in quarters is just day-to-day, normal life.
When it’s not normal, when military life brings pressures and deployments, life in married quarters means being surrounded by people in the same boat. People who just get it. There’s comfort in that.
Life in Married Quarters: Is it Worth It?
Yes. Overall, I’ve found it to be a positive experience. There’s a lot of perks: inexpensive housing, the chance to maximise time with your soldier, the opportunity to move and travel, a community of neighbours who understand the life you live.
There’s a lot that’s not normal about this life. Moving into a house you’ve never seen, for example, is madness. It’s not for everyone, but it is for me. And if it’s the life for you, or even if you have no military connections but are curious about how it works, I hope you found this post interesting.
If you are part of or about to join the Army family, the Army Families Federation ( AFF) is a great resource for up-to-date advice & information.
You might also like one of these military life related posts:
The Union Jack Club: A Unique Stay for Forces Families & Veterans
Military Family Moves (coming soon)
Helen x
What a fascinating insight into the life of an army family Helen, I’ve learned so much from your post as I only know of one other person with army connections. He is the son of one of my friends and is an officer in the Reserves. He was in Logistics but since graduating and moving to London, he’s now attached to the Royal Artillery so has not been called up yet during this crisis. Is it usual for army families to own a property somewhere and let it whilst in married quarters to keep up with house prices when the time comes to leave? I wondered also whether you know in advance how long a posting will last for when applying for a new location. It seems strange to me that they are not all for equal periods of time but, of course, I don’t know how the army works. Thanks again for such an interesting post and I hope you didn’t mind all the questions. Take care, Marion x
Thank you Marion, and of course I don’t mind the questions. Owning a property, a lot of people do and there are help-to-buy schemes through the MoD to assist military families in getting onto the property ladder. Some don’t and just use the years in subsidised housing to save. Homelessness and struggling with housing is a huge issue for service leavers, sadly. As for the length of postings…we always have an ‘in theory’ idea but there are so many factors that can change the plan. Courses, promotions, soldiers leaving the service and creating a gap, compassionate issues. Our last posting to Germany was only for two years and I knew that from the outset, but I was desperate to go back even for a short post. I’m fast losing my heart to Wiltshire though, so lets hope this one lasts the full three years . Famous last words?
That was interesting. I’m a daughter of the manse so grew up with some of the same issues, though we always loved 5 or 6 years in the same place. People made their assumptions then too. I don’t remember because I was too small, but apparently I used to like the hall light left on after I went to bed. One visitor very officiously switched it off to save the church money! He was swiftly advised that we paid our own bills.
I am curious if kids does not have problem with moving schools and leaving friends?
No, not really! They meet some friends again in different places and the schools are used to helping military children so it all works out. I think children take their lead from the parents, so if we are positive and cheerful they are too. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment.
My Dad was in the MOD so every few years we moved on. The only army quarter we had was a lovely house in Singapore but we had to “march in” and out with every item checked and counted and most of the china had an arrow! We also rented half of an old army hospital in Weymouth. I went to 6 schools. Generally I made friends OK & continued to write to some when I moved. My British army school in Singapore when i was in the 6th form was the best of all.
That is so interesting..
Thank you Lisa.
It’s good to know.
Very interesting reading about something that is completely foreign to me. Moving six times in ten years must make you very adaptable–a good skill!
It definitely teaches you to take things as they come! Thank you fir taking the time to read and comment, always appreciated
Those curtains are very 1983!
We moved 18 times as an Army family, beginning in 1965 in Singapore, where we married, then England, Germany, Northern Ireland, Canada and Scotland. Housing improved over the years as was the way “wives of” were treated! it was a good life seeing places we would never have visited otherwise. And we are about to move once more……
Amazing! You must have some wonderful memories. Things do change in Army life, some for the better and some not so much. The pace of change can be glacial though! We are gearing up for the next move, just waiting for the posting order to arrive. Good luck with your impending move!
This was a great read and very informative! My partner and I are looking in to SFA for ourselves. If you do not mind me asking, how was your house in Edinburgh? I believe from looking at the picture you posted it is the same houses as where we are likely to be placed!
That’s Dreghorn, the older housing isn’t the best to be honest but if you’re posted into that area there are newer builds on the same estate and they are lovely. Also another military estate just down the road called Latch Park- very solid, modern homes 😊. Are you on facebook? There’s a page called ‘ Married Quarters R Us’ and its an absolute gem for up to date pics and info.
thanks for getting back to me😁 i’ll be sure to check that page out thank you so much! I guess it may have been a while ago for yourself but how long was the process between applying and getting a move in date☺️
You should get an offer within in 15 working days and then a date to conincide with your posting date or arrival date, if the soldier is already in post. I believe housing on Edinburgh is not too tight so it should be straight forward. Good luck, smooth move!
A fascinating, insightful article and some really great comments to carry the conversation along. You really do shed a light on an aspect of the military that few of us know about. I would expect your kids to have a positive attitude, yours comes across in your blogs as very positive so no surprises there. I had two friends who were army wives and both despair of me not being able to dispose of ‘stuff’. They keep telling me if I’d been an army wife I’d be throwing things away on a daily basis. They mostly followed their husbands in places like Malaysia, Singapore, Hong-Kong etc. but found life in the UK not quite so much fun when they got back.
Thank you for such a kind comment, Mari. I think a lot of people are curious about military life. Yes, my kids are pretty laid back and happy-go-lucky, I think army life has taught them to value what’s really important and not worry so much about the rest. I’m sure military wives of past generations had some adventures- but also some hardships I’ll be lucky enough to never know!
Oh and regarding ‘stuff’, I’m very minimalist just now but when I have my forever house I’ve every intention of making up for it! Less is never more if the ‘stuff’ holds happiness and memories!
Thank you for this interesting window into military living and married quarters. I really enjoyed learning more about the housing, life, and rules.