Anexo forms legal team to tackle rented housing disrepair

Credit hire and legal services company Anexo announced the formation of a new team within its legal services division Bond Turner on Tuesday, to deal with claims arising from housing disrepair.

The AIM-traded firm said the HDR team was currently engaged in almost 1,600 cases - a figure expected to rise “substantially” during 2022.

It said housing trends indicated a move away from owner-occupation towards either private or social rental, with 12% of social housing dwellings and 23% of private rented dwellings reportedly failing to meet the ‘Decent Homes Standard’.

Anexo said 5% of social housing dwellings and 13% of private rented dwellings suffered from a category one hazard, defined as damp and mould growth.

“It has been apparent for some time that large numbers of tenants, including many of our customers, are suffering from poor quality housing,” said executive chairman Alan Sellers.

“The new HDR team will be able to help claimants by ensuring that their landlords, whether they be local authorities, housing associations or private landlords, are obliged to maintain their homes to a decent standard.

“This includes a reasonable state of repair, the provision of reasonably modern facilities, and reasonable thermal comfort, including the absence of damp and mould.”

Sellers said Bond Turner had built an “excellent reputation” for helping people who had been placed in an “invidious position” through no fault of their own.

“We believe that by addressing the problem of substandard housing, we are performing a socially useful function and helping to raise standards across the board.

“We look forward to growing our HDR casebook and believe that it will become a significant contributor to group revenues.”

At 0955 GMT, shares in Anexo Group were down 1.92% at 128.48p.