To ask for a new carpet

[GJA2018]

I’ve lived in a rented house for 12 years, cream carpet was already there when I moved in. Needless to say, after 12 years the carpet is no longer cream. The living room, hallway and upper floors are carpeted and only the hallway and living room desperately need to be changed. I can’t afford to do it, especially as it’s not my house and could be asked to leave with a months notice but it’s becoming a little embarrassing. I’ve tried to clean it but it’s really beyond carpet cleaners and I can’t cover the whole lot with rugs, also I’m on furlough and can’t afford to buy anything non urgent right now. Would it be unreasonable to ask the landlord to install a new carpet? (after lockdown obviously)

being as a cream carpet is a nightmare to keep clean anyway (been there ) and you have been there 12 years I don't think you are being unreasonable and if he says yes ask him if you can have a more friendly colour cream carpets do not belong in high use areas good luck

Thank you for replying, would be interested to know what my rights are if he says no but I'll give it a go.

If you don't ask you don't get.

You could ask, but I guess you could be told no. You could also ask for a professional clean as an alternative maybe?

I don't think you have any rights as such. Just hope he's willing to change it.

Ask him.

It has reached the end of it's rental life as far as any deposit deduction is concerned. As you have lived there so long he should have a refurbishment date in mind, he can't be surprised that it is worn.

But he could just say no! And no to paying for a clean too.

But do ask.

You can always ask but don’t be surprised if he says no. They aren’t obliged to change the flooring, it’s cosmetic and doesn’t affect your health and safety.

Should add that I rented years ago and the house had a cream carpet in the living room that was already ruined when we moved in (previous tenants had dogs) and only got worse. We tried our best to clean it but to no avail so just learnt to live with it until we moved out. I wouldn’t have asked for new flooring, always considered that my responsibility really.

Cream carpets are not a good idea in rentals.

I'd just ask, every place I've rented in the last 10 years has asked that the carpets are cleaned at the end of a tenancy, which means they'd probably been cleaned 3-4 times by now if you'd hadn't been such a good and loyal tenant :)

Worst case is they say no, but they might offer subsidisation which would help

Yes you can ask but if your landlord was employed or self employed in an industry that has collapsed now might be a poor time to ask. Ditto if they have multiple rentals and several tenants have stopped paying their rent. If you think the landlords finances are unaffected by the current climate I would ask in a way like "hope you don't mind me letting you know that after 12 years of careful use our carpets are coming to the end of their life. If there was any chance of them being replaced at some point we would be very grateful."
Unfortunately your "rights" would be to give your notice that you wish to leave if you no longer want to live in the property for cosmetic reasons - so asking nicely is your only option really. You could, as you have said, negotiate to replace them yourself but I agree with your reasons for not wanting to.

Thank you everyone, will ask and see what happens!