Veteran claims council failed to fix mouldy flat
Josh GallagherAn Army veteran says his council house has become "uninhabitable" due to damp, with part of the ceiling having collapsed last month, despite calls to the local authority asking for repairs.
Josh Gallagher, 30, served in the infantry for eight years before settling down in a Gateshead council house where he has lived for two years.
When he moved into the property on Rosebery Terrace it had been freshly painted and plastered, but Gallagher says it has become increasingly difficult to live with the encroaching damp.
Gateshead Council said teams were checking for any "significant hazards or risks" and would carry out any repairs but said they had "no record" of previous complaints.
Gallagher said he had repeatedly been told repairs would be carried out at the property, but the damp "keeps getting worse".
"I left the army and I needed a place to live," he said. "I've got no option to just move house.
"They sent someone out quickly in January, but that was because the ceiling had collapsed - there was water coming through the ceiling."
Gallagher said the tiles in his bathroom have been coming off the walls and his double wardrobe had rotted as a result of the damp, with black mould visible on the walls throughout the flat.
"The cost of my heating is ridiculous - you can't heat this property," he said.
Josh GallagherThe council maintains it first became aware of an issue at the tenant's home in January 2026 when "dampness to the property's ceilings was reported".
"Representatives of our home repairs team attended and discovered, during inspection, the damage was being caused by a leak from the flat above following a range of unauthorised alterations.
"We are now working closely with the tenant in the flat above to make sure their property is restored to its correct standard."
However, Gallagher said he had called multiple times in 2025 and the BBC has seen evidence of a complaint made via an online contact form in July.
