Struggling families in Cornwall have been forced to live without carpets in social housing

Many social housing tenants are often faced with bare or concrete floors when they move into their new home. This is because most social landlords tear up the flooring when a tenant moves out for hygiene reasons – but it’s not always replaced quickly.

Those who can’t afford to put down their own carpets then face rising heating bills to keep their home warm, so are pushed to use food banks because of the increased financial pressure.

When young carer Zach got the keys to his first social rented flat aged 21, he was surprised to find it came without a carpet. Although he said he was willing to look past it, he quickly found himself embarrassed by the idea of ​​not having a floor when guests would visit.

READ THE FOLLOWING:

A historic hotel and pub damaged by fire is to reopen

Beach blighted by wild parties and car parking on the sand introduces new measures

But buying carpets for his one-bedroom flat in Falmouth wasn’t an expense he could easily afford, so he was forced to cut back on his spending for a few months while he saved. “The first couple of times people came, it was good,” he told CornwallLive. “But then I didn’t want to open my apartment to anyone because I was embarrassed and I really got down.

“It cost me just under £1,000 to do the flat. I wanted to buy furniture, but I couldn’t, so I had to get an old TV and put it on the floor. I also had to eat noodles and pasta for a few months. I felt very held back.”

The Keep Cornwall Carpeted campaign reckons Zach’s story is one of many. They believe 30,000 social housing units in the Duchy are affected by the removal of carpets and other flooring. Campaign community organizer Sam Williams is part of a team of people urging social housing providers to keep or replace carpets or floors in properties so tenants don’t incur unexpected costs when they move out.

He explained: “This does not affect people in the private rented sector as private landlords are responsible for providing flooring. Social housing providers will automatically remove carpets between tenants because they say it is for health and safety reasons if there are fleas, bodily fluids or smoke in them.

“I fully understand the need for health and safety, but good quality carpets should remain in the home and be cleaned before the new tenant moves in. Any carpets or flooring that needs to be removed should be replaced by the social housing provider. “

Click here to join CornwallLive on WhatsApp. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out anytime you want. If you are curious, you can read Privacy Notice.

He added that carpet removal can sometimes be a danger in itself for families with young children. Sam said: “When the carpet or the floor is ripped up and there’s concrete or dirt on the floor, it’s dangerous, especially if you have small children crawling around on the floor.”

Keep Cornwall Carpeted is a grassroots campaign which only started earlier this year with the help of The Trussell Trust. It hosts regular ‘community conversations’ in Cornwall to understand how widely the issue affects people.

Sam said the campaign not only aims to raise awareness of the unnecessary removal of carpets in social housing, but also works to bring it to the attention of housing providers.

“I feel everyone has a right to a decent livable home that won’t cause them any more problems,” he said. “It’s your home and your sanctuary and if it’s not a nice place to come back to if it’s cold and has bare floors, then it’s going to affect your physical and mental health.”

Get the best stories about the things you love most, curated by us and delivered to your inbox every day. Choose what you love Here