Families voice concerns about available housing at Grafenwöhr

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Families voice concerns about available housing at Grafenwöhr
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Friday, April 11, 2008

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — Families of the 172nd Infantry Brigade say they are worried that a lack of military housing in the Grafenwöhr area might force them to move into substandard homes or pay a real estate agent 1,800 euros to find a decent place to live.

More than 1,500 brigade soldiers — and a similar number of dependents — are on their way from Schweinfurt to Grafenwöhr this summer in the first phase of the 172nd’s redeployment to the training area. And while Army officials have assured soldiers and family members that they will not be forced to move until housing is available, two 172nd spouses said their husbands’ units want them to move to Grafenwöhr by next week.

“We’ve already made three trips to Grafenwöhr to look at housing, and we are planning two next week,” said one woman who asked not to be identified.

“For two-bedroom government-leased housing there is a waiting list of 112 people, and we are towards the bottom,” she said. “They don’t have anything available for at least three months.”

Instead, U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwöhr spokesman Franz Zeilmann stated in an e-mail that less than half of those on the housing waiting list are coming from Schweinfurt. Additionally, families on the waiting list for two-bedroom homes mostly move into a private rental after a wait of up to a month.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=53981