Lisa Gannon has been driven crazy by endless flood faults in her Maiden Lane flat

THE Town Hall this week said sorry to a woman driven to her wits’ end by floods in her council flat in Camden Town.

Lisa Gannon contacted the New Journal about the three years of hell in her property as broken radiators repeatedly drenched the home on the Maiden Lane estate which she shares with her two young children.

“My youngest, who’s three, has noticed it. He asks me ‘Mum, why is our house broken?’,” she said.

“I work, but I don’t earn huge amounts of money. The money I earn is the money we live on. I would have been expecting a lot more from the council.”

Carpets have been ruined – and the problem still isn’t fixed

She took her case to the local authority ombudsman – which investigates council failings. They said that the piping system on the estate was 40 years old, contaminated and in need of replacing. Camden said this week that there are plans to replace the system on the estate but this is anticipated to start next spring.

Ms Gannon said: “The worst time is in the winter. That’s when I get most of my floods, so then the radiators are constantly being turned off. The flat is freezing.”

The first flood in 2021 severely damaged her living room, causing the carpeting and the faulty radiators to be removed. But it turned out to be a recurring problem.

Ms Gannon said: “They replace the radiators. They come and remove them or they turn them off, and then about two weeks later, having gone without any heating for that time, they will come and install new ones and within months, sometimes weeks, the same thing happens again.

“It might not flood, but it will always leak. My flooring now is all ruined, the floorboards are coming up and water-damaged. But if I lay down new flooring I know that it’s just a matter of time before it happens again.”

On one occasion, hot water was spurting from the pipes and firefighters had to halt the danger

She added: “I’m embarrassed by the situation, my kids are embarrassed. My kids ask me if friends can come round and I have to say no to them. Their friends may not notice it but their parents will so we don’t want anyone around. My eldest even said to me at one point about having his friends around that he wouldn’t want them to see the mould on the walls. It’s so hard to hear that.”

A spokesperson from Camden Council said: “All our residents should have access to heating and hot water, and we would like to apologise to Ms Gannon for the issues that she has experienced.

“We have arranged to visit the property today to address any outstanding repairs.

“Our priority is now to install a new system and pipework throughout the estate which will give all residents access to reliable and controllable heating and hot water. This is part of our commitment to provide a more efficient, comfortable, and cost-effective heating service.”