A Camberwell woman has lived in a damp, mouldy flat with broken lighting for months, due to an upstairs leak, despite repeatedly asking the council to fix it
Eleanor Mackenzie-Smith, a 26-year-old leaseholder at Hood House, Elmington Estate, Camberwell, hasn’t had overhead lighting for months either because the damp build-up has blown her electrics.
She first reported the problem in January, but despite constantly emailing the council, nothing has changed.
Five flats are affected, including one belonging to a disabled 80-year-old woman, whose damp walls have made her bathroom handrail fall off.
Eleanor said: “I don’t know what’s going on. I’m at my wit’s end. It’s really depressing and I get so frustrated.
“I had my mother-in-law to stay for a couple of nights and I couldn’t even turn on the light for her while she used the toilet.”
Eleanor says the damp has been a problem ever since she moved in over a year ago but that things rapidly deteriorated at the end of last year.
She says she has called the ‘Leak from Above’ hotline countless times, but it has never been answered.
One December morning, dripping from above caused a huge puddle in the middle of the room, forcing her to pay for an emergency plumber out of her own pocket.
But the leak has continued, causing mould to accumulate in her bathroom and corridors, which Eleanor feels is damaging her health.
Downstairs 80-year-old Val’s disability rail has fallen off but she says the council are trying their best: “I give credit to Sharon Kennedy and Kieron Williams – they listen to you.”
Val says the contractors weren’t communicating with each other, leading to confusion over the cause of the leak.
The council has since sent Eleanor a bouquet of flowers to apologise, but she says the council have still not told her when it will be fixed.
The News has approached the council for comment.