Carpets Fitted in Social Housing Under New Scheme
Leading UK flooring retailer Carpetright has partnered with social housing providers to provide flooring to vulnerable tenants across the UK.
Currently, landlords are not legally required to provide flooring other than in kitchens and bathrooms, meaning a high number of vulnerable families live in properties with bare floors.
In response to this, Carpetright’s Partnerships team have developed the Social Housing Support Initiative, which is designed to enable landlords to fit appropriate and adequate flooring in their properties.
As well as providing flooring to existing tenants, the scheme also supports landlords in supplying flooring at empty properties ahead of the arrival of new tenants.
Grants for flooring via Carpetright’s e-gift cards are also on offer, and the brand will also provide flooring specifications for new social housing during their initial build and outfit phases.
Providing flooring solutions is achievable through strategic partnerships
Thanks to its network of stores that span the UK, Carpetright is well positioned to establish partnerships up and down the nation to.
One of the brand’s largest partnerships is with Sanctuary Homes, and their joint ‘Warm Welcome’ scheme provides special gift cards to new tenants in a bid to help them pay for flooring at their local Carpetright.
Sanctuary Homes’s Social Value Development Officer, Emily Scott, said: “It’s easy to take things like carpets and curtains for granted. Our most recent initiative, Warm Welcome, allows us to work with partners to improve the experience of many new residents settling into social housing.
“The project is fully funded through our supply chain partners like Carpetright, and we’ve already had more than £60,000 pledged in support.”
Kevin Barret, CEO of Nestware Holdings, is committed to growing an efficient partnerships network with the Social Housing sector.
He said: “Too often people are left living in terrible conditions due to the current regulations and the difficulties that social landlords face in providing flooring for their tenants.
A recent survey suggested 1.2 million people in the UK have no carpet or flooring in their bedrooms and living areas – an unimaginable situation in cold winter months.
Tenants are enjoying the multiple benefits of adequate flooring
Over 1,000 tenants have already benefitted from the scheme through the brand’s partnerships with Southern Housing, Sanctuary Homes, and Bromford Homes, and have had flooring such as carpets, vinyl, and safety flooring installed in their homes.
“You don’t know how much having these carpets has made a difference,” said one tenant from Southern Housing.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do this myself and already it has changed everything. I don’t feel like I’m living in a squat, which was affecting my mental health, and now hopefully when the cold sets in it won’t affect my skin condition or my daughter’s bone condition. Things like this can change people’s lives.”
The advantages extend beyond mental and physical health. Claire Donovan, Head of Policy at campaigning charity End Furniture Poverty, also commented on the practical benefits flooring can offer.
She said: “We know that over three quarters of a million social housing tenants are living without flooring, which has a detrimental impact on comfort, health and safety, energy efficiency and noise. We welcome all projects that will support landlords to provide their tenants with decent flooring.”
