Longleigh Foundation recently joined the Healthy Homes Hub podcast to discuss why so many social housing tenants are still moving into homes without basic floor coverings and what practical action could help change this.
Our Chief Executive, Aileen Edmunds, was joined by Jenny Danson, Chief Executive Officer of Healthy Homes Hub, Dr Bekah Ryder of Altair and Claire Donovan of End Furniture Poverty for the episode, Floored: Why Social Housing Tenants Are Still Waiting for a Basic Essential.
What the research found
The discussion builds on Longleigh Foundation’s research into the provision of floor coverings in social housing, commissioned in partnership with Altair. The research found that an estimated 760,000 adults living in social housing may be without carpets or flooring in key living spaces, with almost four in five tenants surveyed moving into homes with partial or no floor coverings.
The human reality behind those figures is captured in the words of one focus group participant: “I only brought my guests into the kitchen, not the living room. I only let my friends go into the living room four months after I moved in because then I had laminate and rugs down.”
The estimated cost of this gap to residents is £495 million. That duty has not been absorbed by the sector. In many cases, it has been transferred to households already under financial pressure.
The podcast discussion looks at why flooring should be treated as a basic essential rather than an optional extra, particularly for people moving into empty properties with limited savings or support.
Where policy has moved and where it has not
During the research period, the Welsh Government introduced the updated Welsh Housing Quality Standard, which includes expectations around floor covering provision at the point of let. This represents important progress.
However, there are still no equivalent requirements for floor coverings in Scotland, and no requirement covering all rooms in England.
Longleigh Foundation, alongside research and sector partners, continues to advocate for funded policy change across all nations.
What landlords can do now
While policy change takes time, some of the most practical actions available to landlords do not require legislation or significant additional resource.
Retaining good flooring during the void process, rather than removing it as standard practice, is one of the clearest opportunities identified through the research. In many cases, flooring is removed despite remaining in good condition.
Get involved
Does your organisation know what is happening to flooring during your void process? For many senior teams, it has not been examined closely. The podcast is a practical starting point for that conversation.
If you work in housing, policy or the voluntary sector, we welcome your voice. Share the research within your networks and consider what your organisation’s floor covering standards say about your commitment to residents at the point of let.
Listen to the podcast
Listen to the full episode, Floored: Why Social Housing Tenants Are Still Waiting for a Basic Essential, on the Making Housing Better podcast.
