“My little boy is still sharing a room with me – he’s 10 years old and has never had his own room because his is smothered with damp and rot,” says Mary* (not her real name). Mary is a Lambeth Council tenant. She has lived on the Leigham Court Estate for two decades. During that time she has suffered with leaks, damp, mould and cracks in the walls. The cost of keeping warm in winter has put her up to £3,000 in debt.
Despite many requests for repairs, nothing was done. Two years ago, feeling she had no other option, Mary went to Citizens Advice. She met a solicitor and with his help brought a legal disrepair claim against Lambeth. The council agreed to settle and pay £10,000 in compensation.
Figures gathered by Inside Housing show that this is a nationwide trend. Across 70 English councils that own their own stock, there have been nearly 17,000 disrepair claims in the past five years, with more than £55.1m paid out. However, the figures will be much higher because about 100 councils did not provide data.
Anexo plc (LON:ANX) is a specialist integrated credit hire and legal services group focused on providing replacement vehicles to consumers who have been involved in a non-fault accident. ‘Been Let Down’ is a trading name of Bond Turner, part of the Anexo Group.
