'We have had children hurt because of no carpets'

Children have been injured and patients left stuck in hospital because of a lack of carpet in their homes, a charity has said.

The Noah's Ark Centre, in Halifax, has fitted carpets in more than 400 homes since 2023 and said it had more than 70 people on its waiting list.

By law UK landlords only have to put flooring in kitchens and bathrooms, with campaign group End Furniture Poverty saying at least 1.2m homes have no carpet or flooring in their bedrooms and living areas.

Andrew Sykes, from the Noah's Ark Centre, said carpet was "not just to make a home look pretty, it's to make a home safer and warmer".

Mr Sykes said: "We've had children hospitalised because of splinters in toes [and] I can think of at least three clients who were bed blocking in hospital because the hospitals wouldn't release them home because they didn't have carpets down."

The vast majority of people living without flooring in all rooms - 760,000 - were in social housing, according to a survey of 5,500 people carried out by The National Centre for Social Research.

Often social landlords rip up flooring when a tenant moves on hygiene grounds - but it is not always replaced quickly.

When Chloe Ramsden and her five-year-old son moved into their home in Halifax there was only flooring in the kitchen and bathroom.

She said she had managed to save, with the help of her family, to buy carpet for the property but it had been damaged in a fire, leaving her with no flooring downstairs.

Ms Ramsden said her son, who has additional needs, had struggled with the bare floorboards.

"He doesn't like keeping things on his feet, so to just sit down in the living room and watch telly like a normal family causes a lot of emotional distress for him," she said.

"It's cold, it's sharp, it's hard. My heating bill has skyrocketed because it's freezing.

It's something very overlooked. People don't often think about flooring when moving house but actually it's quite a big thing for families."

Noah's Ark Centre began providing carpet to those in need after teaming up with Leeds flooring provider Mercado.

John Clark, from Mercado, had contacted the charity after reading a BBC News article about social housing not providing new tenants with flooring.

"I read a heart breaking story about a mother who'd just moved into a house, and her young child got some splinters in his toes and was in quite a lot of pain," he said.

"We have discontinued lines and we struggle to recycle them at times [so] we decided to donate them to charity. It seemed the right thing to do."

Noah's Ark has a waiting list of 70 people needing carpets or flooring.

"The cost of living crisis has been particularly brutal the last few years for those on the lowest incomes and people have to prioritise," Mr Sykes said.

"You have to prioritise feeding and clothing your children but a carpet is not just to make a home look pretty, it's to make a home safer and warmer."

Ms Ramsden said she had been trying to save for new flooring but as a single mum, working part time, said she had found it difficult.

"I'll put £20 away and then my son will need new school shoes or we'll need food, milk, butter or whatever so we have to dip into that. It's just impossible."

Noah's Ark has now fitted carpet in living room and flooring to her kitchen after she contacted the charity for help.

"I'm very excited, more so for my son. I can't wait to get him home from school because he knows it's happening," she said.

"The first thing he asked this morning was, 'I don't have to wear my shoes when I come from school do I?' and so he's very excited."

Claire Donovan, End Furniture Poverty Director, added: "Living without flooring has an impact on your comfort, the warmth of your home, and your mental wellbeing.

"It's also unsafe for families with young children, the elderly and those with disabilities to be living with concrete floors or rough floorboards, often with nails sticking out.

"We would urge all landlords to immediately stop the policy of asking tenants to remove flooring when they move out, instead assess it and if it is good enough quality, clean and leave in place for the next tenant."

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