Thread: We have a house!

Hi guys

I'm stupidly excited because I've JUST received a pack in the mail giving us our house for MQ in Germany. It's my first MQ, as well as the first place it'll be just the two of us. I'm SO thrilled.

Can anybody tell me, please, what "Type B grade 3" means? I'm looking in the JSP 464 as we speak but it's a lot of document and I'm struggling to find the relevant bits. I thought maybe one of you lovely ladies (or lads!) might have had the same previously and be able to enlighten me. Basically I just want to know: house or flat, and how many bedrooms.

Thanks ya'll! xx

Any hints, tips, etc all lovingly welcomed.

Type B = 2 Bed

I can't remember which way the grading goes though. Someone will remember.

Thanks Gonzo xx

Found it on the AFF FAQ page, the grade 3 is about what we pay rather than what we have. No worries.

Yes, it is the grade. I just couldn't remember if 1 = Complete refurbed or 4 did!

Grade 1 - refurbed and allegedly absolutely gorjus (they lie).
Grade 2 - when they refurbed it they forgot to put the right amount of sockets in so had to down grade it
Grade 3 - we ought to refurb it but Labour spent all the cash
Grade 4 - we ought to hand this shit tip back to Annington but can't afford to spend the cash to get it up to Annington's requirements

Grade 1 you pay the highest, grade 4 they ought to be paying you.

Isn't some of the grading to do with local amenities? We're in a grade 4 and it's lovely (kitchen is v dated though) but in the middle of nowhere while some of the ones on camp are grade 2 and icky but handy for the shops. Ours is ex RAF so I guess might be downgraded because there's no room for a dishwasher or a champagne bar. There are also approximately 3 plug sockets in the entire house so that might have something to do with it as well.

Yep, depending on how far away post office, doctor, pub (yes, pub!) etc are all go into the mix too. So, all the OP has to do now is find out how close the local NAAFI is and then she'll know what state the quarter's in!

Small trivia for you. If you pop into the SSO's office on camp in Germany they hold a big folder with lists of what counts for grading purposes, so you can check what you should get. They also hold a list of what they can pull you up on for move-out - which is handy too.

We were once living in a grade 1 newly puma'ed house until they sent the grading board round (18 months later) and dropped us to a 3, but they sent us a full report with it, it was quite interesting to see how everything was assigned its points etc and how it all added up. Acutally floor space was the biggest hit for our house - apparently it was more than 25% below the EEC mandated minimum size for a 2 bedroom house! (You would have thought that they would have known this to start with really!)

I hope you have a good time in Germany - we were there for nearly 7 years and we loved it (quite jealous actually!).

Distance from work is taken into account too.

Crafty I've got one of those grading letters For this quarter, makes interesting reading. We're going from a grade 1 to a grade 3 so I'm hoping its the 6 and a 1/2 mile commute to work that's the main reason. Although I'm aware I'm a bit odd cos I feeel more at home in the lower graded quarters I've lived in, maybe cos I'm not as scared of the kids or animals making a mess.

Interestingly thinking about it, I think pretty much every quarter (ok by 'every' I only mean 6 not 20!) has either been a 3 or has been downgraded to a 3 whilst we were living in it .... hmmm (or did we live in a 4 in Blandford?...). I never think our quarters are too bad really, but I think my standards may have significantly dropped over the years.

In this house we have horrendous mould in the bathroom and Little Miss' bedroom due to insuffient insullation in the walls and the bathroom fan being far too small and in the wrong place ... (?) and several leaking drainpipes etc. Despite this it's a roof over our heads and we don't have a mortage to pay and every time we need something done I just get to pick up the phone and a nice (or surly) little man pops round and fixes it for zero cost. Our garden is small, but it's one of the bigger ones we have had, so again I'm thankful; the lounge is too small for the furniture, but it's about the only house where I have had room in the kitchen for all my kitchen stuff.

Still we couldn't get on the property market in a million years at the moment. Sigh.

Originally Posted by Special_Tree

I feel more at home in the lower graded quarters I've lived in, maybe cos I'm not as scared of the kids or animals making a mess.

I hear you there! We have 3 hounds, a toddler, and a bump. I would cry if I was given a 1!!!!

I'm in a grade 3, rooms are sized for midgets we are also miles from shops, army camp and any form of normal life!
Loads of chavs and other undesirables live here!

did you google street it?

ooo thats a good idea

Congrats on getting a house together eventually btw

We've had enough of shit-pits and magnolia. So we're buying a home and I'll serve unaccompanied.

Aw thanks Feisty!

I know it's going to be all rules and bare minimum standards and waaay too much magnolia, but I grew up in US MQ so I'm at least used to the paint, and being with him makes the rest of the both seem worth it.

I will probably change my mind about this the first time he annoys me.

Our last 2 quarters have been grade 4s, the first one was St John's Wood, really central for work, just was apparently what you'd call "basic." This one is also a grade 4 but really far out of London, but has it's own local town centre so plenty of shops nearby. I also love it, to me a quarter is just an empty shell for our stuff to go in and we've made it our own. It's completely refurbed and stilla grade 4 so no idea what the reasoning is, unless it's because it takes 90 minutes to get to barracks?! I couldn't even imagine what a grade 1 would look like!

Hubby has just sent photos taken through the window (no keys yet)- Very magnolia, a basic shell, and the kitchen fittings are Tragic. But it's clean and decent and I can't wait to get in there and make it our home.