Carpet poverty: ‘I cried when I saw our new home had bare floorboards’

When Kassie and her three children got the keys to their new home, they were upset to discover rooms had been left with bare and uneven floorboards.

The social housing property in Halifax was deemed ready for the family despite having no carpets or other floor coverings in the bedrooms and living areas.

Her experience echoes that of many tenants whose landlords are not legally required to provide coverings like carpet, laminate, vinyl or tiles in all rooms – although there are hopes that the law could change in future.

Charities such as Noah’s Ark Centre are now stepping in to help those affected by setting up a project dedicated to providing free carpets for families in need.

Kassie opens the door to her new home and steps on to the bare boards.

“It’s just awful,” she says.

The three-bedroom house is echoey and the floorboards have uneven edges with nails hammered into them.

Kassie reveals that she cried when she realised there were no carpets or floor coverings in the bedrooms, hallway and lounge.

“I always presumed that the people who lived here before left them just for now or at least something would be put down so it wasn’t that bad,” Kassie tells me as she looks around.

“I didn’t realise it would be bare floorboards.”

Kassie was served with a “no-fault eviction” by her previous private sector landlord and she can’t afford to pay for new carpets herself for her new property.

“It’s been very, very stressful,” she says.

“I’ve been searching the internet to try and find the cheapest ones but even then you’re looking at ridiculous amounts of money.

“I got a quote for the full house and it was between £1,400-700, so it’s a lot.”

Kassie turned to Noah’s Ark Centre for help, and Andrew Sykes from the organisation has arranged for a fitter to lay new carpets that are supplied for no charge.

“In the social rented sector with social housing landlords, this is the norm,” Andrew says.

“In the private sector, lots of private landlords do put carpets down but social housing landlords and local authorities in England are not required to put floor coverings down so they usually don’t.”

By law, UK landlords only have to put flooring in kitchens and bathrooms.

Campaign group End Furniture Poverty estimates that at least 1.2m homes have no carpet or flooring in bedrooms and living areas.

The government has carried out a consultation on proposals requiring landlords to provide floor coverings in all rooms in social housing, and told the BBC it will respond to the views and evidence provided “in due course”.

Noah’s Ark Centre also provides services such as debt and budgeting advice.

A few minutes away from Kassie’s home, Andrew is back at his warehouse using a forklift truck to unload more rolls of carpet from a delivery van.

He admits that he’d never heard of “carpet poverty” two years ago.

“The original project came about because of a piece we did with BBC Look North about a client of ours and her son who was injured and ended up in hospital having an operation because of a splinter in his big toe,” he says.

“That was a thing at the time that shocked me because the mum was paying £14 weekly for a carpet for her lounge but couldn’t afford anything else anywhere else in the property.”

As Andrew drives back and forth, collecting and unloading carpets, he tells me that he rented a warehouse and created a community interest company, Carpets Like a Boss, after receiving a big donation of flooring.

John Clark from Mercado Flooring is watching the delivery being unloaded.

“We get quite a lot of end of lines, distressed stock and it devalues over time so we utilise that stock in a better way,” he explains.

“Giving a bit back to the local community is the best use of our resources, I would say.”

Since 2023 Noah’s Ark Centre and, later the Carpets Like a Boss project, have carpeted more than 600 homes in Calderdale, and there are still around 80 people on the waiting list.

Back at Kassie’s home, she is inspecting the new carpet in her son’s bedroom.

“It’s beautiful, my little boy is going to love it,” she smiles.

“I feel like actually crying, I do.”

End Furniture Poverty has called on the housing sector to back proposals for a change in the law on flooring in social housing.

Claire Donovan from the charity told the BBC: “I would say to the housing sector that while this is undoubtedly going to be challenging, if not now, when?

“We should not be moving vulnerable people into empty properties with bare, concrete floors. Now is the time to get on with it, ensure flooring is provided to increase comfort, health and safety, and energy efficiency so we urge the government to ensure flooring is in the published Decent Homes Standard.”

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “it is wholly unacceptable for social housing providers not to meet the highest of standards.

“That is why the government is introducing a reformed Decent Homes Standard so that all families have access to a safe home.”