Halifax charity says youngsters are being damage by an absence of carpet | EUROtoday

Children have been injured and sufferers left caught in hospital due to an absence of carpet of their properties, a charity has stated.

The Noah’s Ark Centre, in Halifax, has fitted carpets in additional than 400 properties since 2023 and stated it had greater than 70 folks on its ready record.

By legislation UK landlords solely must put flooring in kitchens and bogs, with marketing campaign group End Furniture Poverty saying not less than 1.2m properties haven’t any carpet or flooring of their bedrooms and residing areas.

Andrew Sykes, from the Noah’s Ark Centre, stated carpet was “not just to make a home look pretty, it’s to make a home safer and warmer”.

Mr Sykes stated: “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 overwhelming majority of individuals residing with out flooring in all rooms – 760,000 – had been in social housing, in line with a survey of 5,500 folks carried out by The National Centre for Social Research.

Often social landlords rip up flooring when a tenant strikes on hygiene grounds – however it isn’t at all times changed rapidly.

When Chloe Ramsden and her five-year-old son moved into their dwelling in Halifax there was solely flooring within the kitchen and toilet.

She stated she had managed to avoid wasting, with the assistance of her household, to purchase carpet for the property nevertheless it had been broken in a fireplace, leaving her with no flooring downstairs.

Ms Ramsden stated her son, who has extra wants, had struggled with the naked 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 stated.

“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 started offering carpet to these in want after teaming up with Leeds flooring supplier Mercado.

John Clark, from Mercado, had contacted the charity after studying a BBC News article about social housing not offering 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 stated.

“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 ready record of 70 folks 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 stated.

“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 stated she had been attempting to avoid wasting for brand spanking new flooring however as a single mum, working half time, stated she had discovered it tough.

“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 front room and flooring to her kitchen after she contacted the charity for assist.

“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 stated.

“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 additionally unsafe for households with younger youngsters, the aged and people with disabilities to be residing with concrete flooring or tough floorboards, typically with nails protruding.

“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.”