Ensure social housing in Wiltshire comes with essential carpets, curtains and flooring

Nationally, 29% of private rented properties are let as furnished or partly furnished compared to just 2% of social rented properties. National Citizens Advice data shows that people living in social housing are almost twice as likely to need to use a food bank as people living in privately rented housing, and a lack of furnishings is reported to contribute to this figure.

The main impact of moving into a bare home includes the cost of buying flooring and curtains, which can push households into financial hardship and reduce their ability to pay rent and bills. If households are unable to spend the hundreds of pounds needed to make a property liveable, they might live with bare floors that are a safety hazard and create dust, and in a cold property with no privacy due to a lack of curtains. In every town in Wiltshire, there are cold and bare houses, some with cardboard for flooring and tarpaulin or sheets for curtains, because these basic items weren't provided.

"It was very overwhelming having all of that to contend with. People moving into social housing are usually people with very limited resources, flooring especially is such a significant cost, going without is very difficult, especially with young children. I personally ended up in debt, which I'm still paying off, 3 years later, due to the amount of work that needed doing. I did not know that no flooring at all would be provided." - Quote from a Wiltshire tenant via our campaign survey.

Bare homes affect mental and physical health, the wellbeing of children, and contribute to social isolation. Providing flooring and curtains before tenants move in is linked to reduced rent arrears, longer tenancies and a range of other benefits around finances, health and wellbeing.