Can’t afford to carpet my council house

Do things one room at a time.
You can get some large area rugs really cheap off of Amazon. There are some that are 3mx2m and they’re currently 50% off - so around £40.

Just how big is your house and what kind of carpet are you buying?

Try Carpetright. We bought a carpet similar to their Dynasty Twist carpet, currently retailing at £8.99 per square meter.

UKCarpet mills currently do underlay from £2.89 per square meter.

I know we got fitting quotes both from Carpetright and directly from independent carpet fitters. (Like the ones contracted by companies like carpetright).

The independent fitter advised us on underlay for that carpet, as did Carpetright.

But ultimately we bought the carpet from Carpetright and bought the underlay where the independent fitter advised us (not directly through him, but we "mentioned" his name.) And the independent carpet fitter fitted the carpet.

That was 18 years and 3 children and 3 dogs and lots of sleepovers ago. It's still looking good, but we will probably replace it in the next 2-5 years.

But absolutely no way will I be spending £2K to re-carpet our home.

PS: Find a neutral colour and carpet your entire house in that one carpet.

This true but down here all new social housing properties are tiled down stairs when they ar built. It is much easier to deal with floor boards upstairs. As others have said try the free sites on Facebook.

This is standard. Apparently flooring other than concrete and naked floorboards is a luxury. Seal the concrete with some PVA if you can’t afford proper sealant.

Hi, why don't you approach your local church? I know they would rally around and try and find a solution for you. A church that runs stuff already in the community is probably a good place to start. I know in all the churches I've gone to if someone approached us for help we would genuinely be delighted to help. It sounds so tough for you.

I have been in your exact position. We moved into a HA flat in February and still haven’t carpeted everywhere.

We have done it room by room prioritising which we spend the most time in. Before we ordered the first carpet we got a big rug from tesco on clubcard offer for £30. We did the front room first, then our bedroom (kids sleep with us and play in front room so their room wasn’t a priority), now we are carpeting theirs tomorrow. That just leaves the hallway which we are saving for so we can get vinyl.

We got the carpets from onlinecarpets quite cheap (think around £300 for the 3 rooms). The carpet is quite thin so have put some rugs down too but it’s felt back so no need for underlay. We also have been installing it ourselves which has cut the cost down. We have never done it before but there’s tutorials online and we got carpet glue, carpet knife and masks from amazon. It’s hard work but worth it to cut the cost down. We were quoted around £1500 for 3 rooms, hallway and installation.

There's a pay weekly carpet place that covers Sheffield area if you're near there

Are you in Scotland or England OP? There is a scheme near me which helps get flooring but I’m in Scotland.

Not sure if anyone has suggested this but when we were in the same position after being homeless we got carpets via council and I think they charged us £9/week. They put us on for 5 years.

Get a cheap rug for one room at a time

Sorry, without any other medical conditions (such an inflammatory/automimmune or connective tissue disease you see a consultant for), something most frequently caused by wearing inadequate footwear isn't going to count.

You'll be fine with just doing bits as you go along.

For anyone shocked by the council not fitting carpets. If the OPcarpets the place beautifully and then in 10 years moves out, the council will rip up the carpets before a new tenant moves in

The flooring could be down a month and they'll still rip it up and throw it in a skip before the house is re-tenanted. It's disgustingly wasteful. I had lumps torn out of my skirting boards because they also lifted laminated flooring. As pps suggested, signing a waiver would save the next tenant a fortune.

If no one has suggested it already ikea do massive carpet rugs

Hi Sassh other housing associations here in Ireland do tile the bathrooms and kitchen and do a better finish. How do you find the laminate, does it gather dust alot. Maybe I just need to hoover more....would love hardwood but it is the fitting of it that is expensive but flooring looks nice and wear slippers and lucky have triple glazing on new build. Takes a while to get settled and I remember we only had a rocking chair and a garden chair at the start and the cement flooring. Thank god have sofa and slowly got bits and pieces and artwork so places looks more homely. Now just need start on front garden as like a jungle..

Lots of advice on here and @BOOTS52PollyPrissyPants there is StVince here, but not everywhere.

I was in a similar situation when I moved in to ine OP I managed to get a large thick throw and I put that on the floor like a carpet square.

I had laminate put down but as I was doing a whole bungalow I could negotiate on price as I was buying as much as a fitter would.

It will become home in time OP,

For anyone shocked by the council not fitting carpets. If the OP carpets the place beautifully and then in 10 years moves out, the council will rip up the carpets before a new tenant moves in.

Meant to add got a large rug for living room which makes it cosy. In time would like to replace the vinyl with hardwood as the vinyl gets soo dusty but could not get carpet as have a dog. We have St. Vincent De Paul here in Ireland, do you have any charity like that who will help you also. Pls update and let us know how you are getting on.

I was in your position a few years ago and it was not even the price of the flooring but the crazy price of someone fitting it. I got a nice wood effect vinyl throughout the apartment and it looks great and got some help from council via a grant. But we did live with the cement floors and the dust and smell is awful and cannot be good for you at all. You will get there slowly as it takes time. Try charities to see if they can help you also and hope you get sorted soon. Even if you have to do one room at a time you will get there and lucky it is a new build and you will get settled, took me around 2 years to feel settled here. Hope things work out for you.

Congratulations on your new home!
Don't let the carpets get to you too much- you will get there!
How frustrating that the council don't provide any sort of flooring. Would it be worth contacting yoyr local mp about it? Seems ridiculous you can't get a grant for a floor because your child is 5 not 3, is that not discrimination?
If you've explored all options, I would be inclined to put lino down for now and a nice rug.. at least in tge living room and try all the places others have suggested, as and when you can afford it. Just go a bit at a time. Seems impossible but you will get there!

You could try painting the concrete floors for the time being. Try and get some rugs from freecycle or ask shops for remnants and just mix and match it and try to start saving for carpet I guess.

Weird comment @Midwinter91 seeing as they haven’t mentioned anything about not working

B&M do carpet tiles, you're not going to get a luxurious feeling carpet but don't need underlay or gripper strips, very easy to lay yourself so no fitting costs, just spray some adhesive and put the tile down. They can be cut with a Stanley knife to fit in door frames or trim down to size.

They won't last 20 years but will give you a few years use to find a longer term solution.

Have you looked at getting roll ends? Usually ends up being far cheaper but obviously you don’t get as much choice. Never bought carpet any other way & our carpets are so thick I struggle to get the upright vacuum over them now even 3 years later. Didn’t pay more than £200 per room inc underlay & fitting, all grey carpets but not the exact shade of grey in each room

Have you said where, roughly, you are, it's possible that more localised help/advice might be available.