Amanda Steele reveals the disrepair

A TENANT has been waiting two years for a three-foot hole in her bathroom wall to be fixed.

Amanda Steele said she loves her one-bed flat in Cavendish Mansions, Clerkenwell, where Madness frontman Suggs lived when he was 12.

But since November 2022, her bathroom wall collapsed from a leaky roof and getting it fixed has been a surprisingly difficult struggle. “You would think I asked them to find out the secret to the universe,” Ms Steele said this week.

“There’s been so many phone calls and messages you have to send.” After becoming waterlogged, the wall bulged outwards and resembled “something out of Stranger Things”.

Mushrooms started sprouting from the paintwork. Over the course of many different appointments with contractors, half of the wall was removed leaving a gaping hole.

She has now covered up the hole with cardboard and gaffer tape.

Cavendish Mansions, where Madness frontman Suggs lives as a boy

After making formal complaints, Ms Steele, who works at a nearby structural engineering consulting company, was given £800 compensation.

She said: “It’s not about the compensation, I just want the wall fixed. I didn’t think this would be such a difficult challenge. I’m not looking for handouts. [The repairs team] came last week and said the entire wall needs removing and the toilet needs moving to do that. It was booked in for today (March 15) so I took a day off. I called them and they said we cancelled that, we’ll come out on May 8.

“It’s not safe. I can’t have guests over because it’s embarrassing. It’s just depressing because every time I’m looking at it I’m like it’s not going to get fixed. There’s no end in sight.”

A Camden Council spokesperson said: “We are completing the remaining work to fix the bathroom wall today. We also are arranging to carry out a mould wash and paint around window bay area once the repairs to the wall have dried.

“We would like to apologise to the resident for the delay in completing the repairs required in their home.”