ACORN South West region

ACORN's South West region contains the Branches and Groups Bristol, Swindon, and Falmouth & Penryn, as well as many other members in other towns and cities, all fighting campaigns on the issues that matter to them. Join in with an action near you so we can win.

We are stronger together.

ACORN's South West region contains the Branches and Groups Bristol, Swindon, and Falmouth & Penryn, as well as many other members in other towns and cities, all fighting campaigns on the issues that matter to them. Join in with an action near you so we can win.

We are stronger together.

Tell LiveWest to Keep Our Carpets!

67 signatures

Furniture poverty is a hidden issue across the whole of England, impacting the social housing sector in particular. In 2022, 26% of people in social housing were living without essential furniture, compared with 15% in the private rental sector and just 3% of homeowners.

As standard, most Housing Associations do not provide carpet for their tenants. In 2022,1.2 million adults in England were living without flooring of some kind.

Thousands of famlies across Cornwall are being housed in properties with bare, concerete flooring. In the middle of a cost of living crisis, social housing tenants are being forced to shell out for their own carpets — which they're then told to rip up when they move out or face a fine!

Earlier this year, Cornwall Housing and Coastline Housing Association both publicly committed to changing this policy: they will now retain, clean and reuse existing carpets where possible, saving social housing tenants hundreds of thousands of pounds.

ACORN Falmouth and Penryn are calling on LiveWest to join other housing associations in Cornwall and immediately change their policies so that carpet can be kept, cleaned and reused where possible.

Dear Paul Crawford, CEO of LiveWest,

Despite LiveWest informing ACORN Falmouth and Penryn they have changed their policy to allow carpets to be kept, it is clear that their tenants are still not being treated fairly. We therefore demand that by the end of 2023:

Ensure that the final decision to keep or remove carpets is always made by the incoming LiveWest tenant at the beginning of a new tenancy.

You scrap fines for outgoing tenants who do not remove their carpets at the end of a tenancy.

You provide evidence of a clear communication to inform LiveWest tenants of this policy change.

See to that our member Sarah is fully compensated for the £1,500 that she & her family spent replacing perfectly usable carpets.

You are well aware that most of your social housing tenants are struggling financially. Your own survey in 2022 found that 61% of your customers were worried about money, and 43% had gone without heating to save money.

As CEO of LiveWest, you are reported to earn over £200k a year whilst some of the families living in your properties sleep on concrete floors at night.

Earlier this year, Cornwall Housing and Coastline Housing Association both publicly committed to changing this policy: they will now retain, clean and reuse existing carpets where possible, saving social housing tenants hundreds of thousands of pounds every year.

Please join your Housing Association colleagues in committing to keep and reuse carpets where possible in your rented accomodation across Cornwall.

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