Not all heroes wear capes… some just provide carpets By Sarah-Jane Mee, lead UK news presenter Not all heroes wear capes… some just provide carpets. Did you know many local councils and housing associations across England provide homes with no flooring? I spent the day in St Albans with Pia Honey from NoFloorNoMore.org rescuing carpets destined for landfill to give to families living in substandard homes. Pia first found out about this problem when she gave away her own carpet on a freecycle website - and the response was overwhelming. "I helped three families with carpets from my home, but there were so many more. One woman told me that she had nowhere to open presents at Christmas, so I ripped out more carpets from my home." Pia had so many enquiries, she started to ask questions. The answers shocked her into action. Tenants told her that when a council property is reissued it is required to be stripped bare. Properties are stripped no matter the condition of the existing flooring. Tenants are often unable to afford new flooring, which can leave their homes cold and miserable to live in. The issue is country wide - Pia gets enquiries from all over the UK. We met Sophie, who had contacted Pia for help. Sophie had waited more than a decade to move from a two-bed flat to a house big enough for her five children to have their own beds - she felt she couldn't refuse, despite the substandard condition of the floors. Pia used carpets destined for landfill from a film studio to kit out the entire house and make it a home. "No Floor No More" is what's known as a Community Interest Company. It's currently unfunded and relies solely on donations from carpet manufacturers and big companies looking to dispose of flooring sustainably - and Pia's own savings. Pia's aim is to support the community as best she can and eventually bring about a change in policy. The Local Government Association told Sky News that councils across the country are fully committed to providing quality social housing but "local government is under mounting pressure to find suitable homes for an ever-increasing number of people, and there are currently over 1.3 million families in England on waiting lists for social housing". The response went on: "This means councils are having to make impossible decisions about maintaining existing housing stock and building more homes that the country seriously needs. "Government needs to use the upcoming spending review to ensure that councils are sufficiently resourced and empowered to deliver the homes that the country desperately needs." Right of reply: St Albans City & District Council Chris Traill, strategic director for community and place delivery, said: "We are committed to ensuring our social housing properties are in the best possible condition for new tenants when they move in. "In doing so, we provide all tenants with our flooring policy and our team are happy to discuss any issues they may have. "As part of their tenancy agreement, tenants are asked to remove all flooring such as carpets and grippers before the property is handed back. "This is because the flooring may be in a poor condition and unpleasant for the incoming tenants and because pets may have been in the house, posing a risk of flea infestations. "However, exceptions are made where the flooring is in a good enough condition to be 'gifted' to the incoming tenant. "Gifting is welcomed if the carpet is newly laid and where there is confirmation that there have been no pets and the carpet was treated for fleas as a precaution. "We also allow for gifting where the flooring is suitable for new flooring to be laid on top. "Recently, we have left flooring down in three properties that met the criteria."