The MoD has been accused of denying families a home after leaving dozens of houses unoccupied and falling into disrepair.
Canterbury City Council accuses the ministry of 'utterly negligent behaviour' over the 33 modern houses on a former barracks estate.
It says repairs to the properties will leave the taxpayer with bills of hundreds of thousands of pounds because of vandalism, and the cost is rising.
The properties at Howe Barracks, which closed in 2015, are owned by a property company and were leased to the MoD.
The council says it understands they are now being handed back to the company and it will hold urgent talks over bringing them back into use.
Council leader Simon Cook said: 'This is utterly negligent behaviour by the Ministry of Defence.
'They have denied many families a home and our view is that they should be ashamed of what’s happened.
'Sadly the MoD has shown total disinterest in negotiating with us and no understanding of how important this issue is to us and our residents.
'Despite our constant chasing, it has been impossible to get them to engage on any serious level.'
