Pictures from barracks were sent in by soldiers

Gordon Brown said the quality of defence housing was an "issue" but the government has announced a �5bn investment over the next 10 years.

"We've got to do more and we will do more," he told BBC One's Sunday AM.

Mr Brown also said there were "lessons" from the government's handling of Iraq in the period after the 2003 war.

Mr Brown's comments on the state of housing for soldiers and their families came after BBC News last week received photos of barracks and shower blocks with cracked walls, mildew and broken pipes.

The Army's personnel chief Lt Gen Freddie Viggers has already pledged to fight for better accommodation while defence minister Derek Twigg said it was "not perfect, and that we need to improve it".

We will be putting about �5bn into improving army and defence forces accommodation Gordon Brown Housing 'must improve' Q&A: Forces housing

Mr Brown said: "Although most of the accommodation has been brought up to standard, there is more to do.

"In the next few weeks there will be more being spent in a new phase of accommodation improvement.

"And over the next 10 years I think we will be putting about �5bn into improving army and defence forces accommodation."

'Iraq review'

The UK has about 7,000 troops in Iraq, most based around the southern city of Basra.

Mr Brown did not rule out a future review of the government's post-war handling of the situation in Iraq.

"There will always be reviews into what happened," he said. "The lessons we have got to learn are two-fold."

We can over the next few months start to scale down our troop presence in Iraq Gordon Brown

He said power should have been handed over to the Iraqis at an earlier date while efforts to win hearts and minds could have formed a greater part of the so-called war on terror.

Mr Brown, who is widely expected to take over as prime minister from Tony Blair this year, suggested he would not support increasing British troop numbers in response to any boost in US soldiers in the region.

The chancellor said he had "nothing but admiration" for UK troops, whom he visited in Basra in November.

He said future UK policy in Iraq "will be the policy we are pursuing now" and it would "continue to move troops from combat to training, to complete the redevelopment work".

The government has already said it was hoped local Iraqi forces would take control of Basra in the spring.

Mr Brown said: "We can over the next few months start to scale down our troop presence in Iraq.