Can’t afford to carpet my council house

[Florafloral]

I have recently moved into a council house with my 5 year old after being made homeless. It’s a new build so All rooms are painted which I’m grateful for but I can’t afford to carpet it. It’s concrete flooring throughout which is impossible to keep clean, is very powdery and dusty. It’s making our clothes and furniture dusty too. I applied for a grant for flooring with the council but was turned down because my DD isn’t under 3 and we have no health conditions. Does anyone have any tips or how I can try and get cheap flooring. I’ve been quoted over £2000 for the whole house. It just seems impossible

How about floor paint i did this in my old home dried quick and was mopable.
Now in my new home i got floor tiles off amazon i dont like carpet my choice.
I done one room a time untill i was done.
Now 3 years on im going to rip them all up soon and sand the floor boards back bit of vanish and go for the natural look.

I sympathise. This is what I would also advise^

Congratulations on your new home 🏡

It says she did in the OP!

Definitely use the sealer. If you don't like the grey look, get some special concre paint to add colour, place a rug or two and it will all ne lovely and homely!

I got remnants from carpet right when we first moved in, got 3 bedrooms, hallway and living room all done and fitted for under £500. I'm pretty sure they do finance as well.
The remnants we got were amazing, really good quality and very expensive carpets.

The DWP do budget loans. Not sure if that would help:

https://www.gov.uk/budgeting-help-benefits/how-to-apply

Have a look at carpet tiles - you can get rescued ones (mainly from offices) for very little and they are relatively easy to lay yourself

OP- as pp have said- Pay weekly floor type thing is great. I paid £10 a week and have done my whole house this way. There's loads of them on Facebook just make sure you read the reviews. The one i used was a lical catpet shop who did this on the side so to speak. Good luck x

Definitely ask around on Nextdoor or Facebook to in your immediate area people are always asked no near me and there are some very generous offers!

Is a 0% credit card an option for you?

It is hard. I was in the same situation and didn't have carpets downstairs for years. The carpet on the stairs is an off cut we nailed on and still hasn't been replaced due to finances.

Sealing the concrete with a bond resin is very cheap and you can do it yourself. That will reduce the dust. PP had post a link.
There are companies that do your full flat for around 1000 pounds, it is the grey "landlord" carpet. Not sure if that fit your budget. They also have end of cuttins for a fraction of the price.
Vinyl tiles are cheap I have just done my living room for 125 pounds, 16sq mts and I did it myself. I bought them on ebay.
Home bargains and other retailers do vinyl rolls up to 9 sq m surface for 45 pounds, that can solve small rooms like bathroom. They also had carpet tiles you can lay yourself.
Keep on looking I'm sure you can find something you like within a tiny budget, I did it.
One you got the concrete sealed will be easy because the dust will be much less.

You can paint floors. There is a special paint for concrete floors (often used in garages) but it is rather expensive. I suppose ordinary emulsion would do, but not so hard wearing. Thin the first coat 10% so it soaks in and seals the surface.

Paint will prevent it making dust, and you will be able to mop or sweep it.

Dull, unobtrusive colours like light grey might be best. You can often get free paint on Freegle or local Facebook groups, but you will need a lot to do a room in one colour.

See if you can get remnants of vinyl. Especially for the kitchen as it is easy to clean. You might get a remnant of stair carpet fir the hall or corridor.

Rugs for the bedroom and living room and mats fir the bathroom. Again you might get some free. You can put small ones in the wash unless they are wool.

I know it's highly unlikely that you live in my area OP but, if you do, I might be able to help (access to charitable funds). Please say which county you are in.

Could you get a referral to a Trussel Trust food bank & once there discuss with the staff your situation-they might have some advice or know of a scheme to help you. The one I help at has access to free SIM cards, winter warmer packs/energy saving packs & can signpost to many helpful services-good luck.

My DH went on the internet and looked at remnants from industrial carpeting - I think eBay, this was a few years ago. It was very cheap - like 1/4 cost of carpets we'd been looking at - and doesn't show wear at all.

Try https://grants-search.turn2us.org.uk/

I am a trustee of a charity on here (ours just covers a small geographic area but there are lots of others) and we quite often give grants for carpets

Carpet off cuts & rugs. Plastic for hallways etc I know what you mean about the concrete dust I used to hoover it constantly. At least the carpet/rugs don't slip though.

I worked for income support back in the day. I'm sure carpets were deemed a necessity. A budgeting loan or crisis loan would do this. I have a feeling this may have changed to your local council. Please phone them. If nothing else they'll give you proper advise.

I would check on second hand sites for laminate flooring as well. There is stuff that you can just lay on top of the floor, without sticking it or anything, and it will be in perfect condition if it has been removed from someone's house.

Try Nextdoor , even if you don't have one for your town there will be one in a nearby area . There are often free rugs and/or cheap ones offered by the local community . I realise they won't carpet your whole house but they should suffice until you can afford to buy carpeting .

We had to live with a bare concrete hall floor for a number of months (a case of poor scheduling of works rather than affordability granted).

You are right it attracts so much dust and is very noisy.

We sealed it, as people have recommended, and laid down rugs and thick throws.

I would paint the floors so they can be cleaned and swept. Carpetwright sell big offcuts really cheaply. Not ideal but this is what i would do to start with. Lino is also cheaper than carpet to supply and fit. It is not right that you cant get help from the council with this OP they should at least contribute.

I painted a concrete floor in our old house it sealed it in and worked a treat at keeping the dust at bay.

Join local Facebook groups where people are giving something for free and get rugs to make it cosy.

Go to a carpet remnants shop with measurements for your priority rooms. Those sort of places will often do vinyl offcuts as well which can be even cheaper. You will need to factor in fitting costs.

Defo not obliged to give flooring round here I've had friends have same dilemma.

Concrete and rugs sealed is fine my friend made it look lovely.

Also she already applied for a grant and they said no