Guidance - Hard Flooring

Housing Guidance Note Hard flooring

Author: Service Development Team Approved by: Garry Bates Date Approved: 17 January 2011 (updated September 2014) Review date: As required

1. Tenancy conditions covering flooring: Section 8 of the tenancy conditions makes reference to a requirement to seek permission prior to the fitting of hard floor coverings:

“You must: • keep floors of the property, other than kitchens and bathrooms, covered with carpet or other similar floor covering.

You must not carry out, cause or allow without first receiving the council’s written permission: d). the installation of laminate or wooden or tiled or other similar flooring.

If you want to carry out this type of work, you must ask for the council’s permission. We will not unreasonably withhold permission. You must also get any necessary approvals such as planning permission or building regulation approval. Any agreed alterations to the property must be completed in a reasonable time and to a standard of workmanship and in accordance with other conditions contained in the council’s written permission.

The council is not liable for any loss or damage of any alterations carried out by the tenant with or without the council’s written permission.

The suitability of the flooring and whether enough has been done to reduce noise nuisance to other residents will be considered prior to permission being granted.”

2. Our tenant alterations policy on floor coverings is: “Permission to lay laminate, wood or similar hard flooring is generally refused unless it is on the ground floor because of the risk of causing noise problems to neighbouring properties.

Permission to lay ceramic, tiled or similar flooring is generally refused unless laid in a kitchen or bathroom that is not above a living room or bedroom.”

3. Guidance on considering requests There will be 2 different types of request for permission to put down hard flooring materials:

 Requests from tenants who already have hard flooring but didn’t ask for permission.  Requests from tenants who want to have hard flooring in their home.

In both types of requests the most important consideration will be whether or not this does/will affect other residents. Removing carpets and having bare floors or hard flooring can considerably increase the impact noise experienced by others especially those underneath.

Many tenants who have put down laminate flooring will have done so without realising that they ought to have sought permission. The law allows for permission to be considered retrospectively and when tenants have installed laminate flooring and ask for retrospective permission this should be considered.

If tenants who have already fitted laminate flooring without permission do not ask you for retrospective permission you may not need to take any action although you should explain that permission should have been sought and if any noise problems arise as a result they may need to change their flooring. Make a record on the tenancy file that you have given this advice.

4. Requests for permission to lay hard flooring when no-one else will be affected

If it is probable that no-one else will be affected by a tenant’s hard flooring permission can be given. This would ordinarily be when a tenant lives in a house or a basement or ground floor flat with nobody beneath them. As stated in our tenancy conditions it is also acceptable to install ceramic or tiled flooring in bathrooms and kitchens.

In these types of situation permission would normally be given. Refer to procedure/standard letter.

5. Requests for permission to lay hard flooring when it is possible other residents could be affected by increased noise

Noise would usually be an issue when tenants have people living beneath them.

Islington Council is not in a position to provide expert advice to residents about acoustic floor coverings and if a tenant wants to install hard flooring the onus must be upon them to find out about sound proofing and to satisfy you, by providing a detailed specification, that they are taking steps to insure there is no increase in noise to other residents. Islington Council has produced a leaflet on the subject of laminate flooring installation. The extent to which other residents are likely to be affected will depend in large part on the property type. Although complaints about noise caused by hard flooring are received from tenants living in blocks and in street properties, noise can be less of an issue, for example, in a purpose built block with solid concrete floors than it is in a street property conversion with wooden floors.

Unless you are reasonably certain that there will be no noise problems because a block has good sound proofing, requests to install hard flooring should not be considered unless the tenant can demonstrate that adequate sound proofing steps are being taken. If there is a history of noise complaints from the block in question, take extra care.

Requests from tenants in converted houses to install hard flooring will generally be refused unless the tenant can show there will be no resulting increase in noise to other residents. It is likely that very few requests from tenants in conversions will be able to be agreed.

GM/SDT/final version/17 January 2011 (updated September 2014) 2 6. Giving permission

In all cases where permission is given to install hard flooring where other people could be affected, permission should only be given on the condition that no noise problems arise for other residents. It should be made clear that if this happens permission will be revoked and the tenant may be required to remove it and/or lay alternative floor coverings e.g. carpet or similar.

Permission should also be conditional upon the flooring being laid by a competent person (this could be the tenant or someone they know if they have satisfied you they are able to do it properly). To reduce noise it is important, for example, that laminate flooring is fitted with an expansion gap around the edges of a room. If the installation is a DIY job ask for an explanation of how it will be fitted and check that this kind of detail is included.

Always make sure that permission is given or refused in writing. Any conditions should be set out clearly if permission is given and the reason for refusal should be explained if it is not.

7. Requests for permission from tenants who have already installed hard flooring when you have received no complaints of noise

Follow the procedure set out above asking the tenant to confirm whether or not their flooring includes sound reducing insulation or underlay.

Remember that because you have not received any complaints about noise it does not mean that residents beneath are not experiencing it. Make sure you ask them if this is an issue before giving retrospective permission.

Permission should still be given conditionally (as above) even if the resident beneath has no concerns about noise; they may take a relaxed attitude towards noise and if they move out the next resident may be caused a nuisance.

8. Enforcing the tenancy conditions requiring tenants to lay alternative floor coverings

Our tenancy conditions are set out at the beginning of this guidance note.

This tenancy condition was introduced because carpets with a good underlay significantly reduce noise to adjoining properties especially those beneath, and because Islington Council has received many complaints from residents who live underneath people with bare floorboards, laminate, wooden or other hard flooring.

It is possible to get other types of floor covering that reduce noise in a similar way to carpets if they are properly under laid or insulated or if other sound proofing measures are taken.

Floor coverings do not of course remedy all noise issues. Impact noise (eg footsteps and dropping things) should be significantly reduced; ambient noise (e.g. music, talking etc) may not significantly change.

GM/SDT/final version/17 January 2011 (updated September 2014) 3 9. What to do if there is a noise issue because a tenant has no floor coverings or hard floors

If you are satisfied that there is a noise problem because a tenant has no floor coverings you should write to the tenant concerned asking them to comply with their tenancy conditions. Check that they have done so at a later date.

10. What to do if a tenant says they can’t afford floor coverings

Islington Council must be reasonable in the way that it enforces its tenancy conditions and this means that we must listen to and consider any representations the tenants wants to make and take their circumstances into account.

There will be tenants who have no floor coverings because they simply can’t afford them.

 Discuss with the tenant whether they can make a start by covering the room/s where the problem is most acute (for example rooms that are above bedrooms), and explore the possibility of “carpeting” their flat bit by bit. Using rugs if this is cheaper than having fitted carpets laid.

 Discuss with the tenant things they can do to reduce noise to neighbours. This might include:

- avoiding wearing shoes indoors and just wearing socks - avoiding using toys indoors that have wheels like tricycles or toy cars etc - putting padding under the bottom of furniture to stop it scraping on the floor - thinking about how rooms are used and changing them around if there is a problem (if for example a living room is above a bedroom) - avoiding putting speakers on the floors or walls - being generally considerate by closing doors quietly and not running up and down stairs etc - talking to their children and visitors about being considerate - attending mediation

The more successfully tenants reduce noise the less likely Islington Council is to receive complaints which will result in the need to enforce this tenancy condition. Tenants may therefore be able to save themselves the expense of buying floor coverings if they take these measures.

 Tenants on Income Support may be able to apply for a loan.  In some cases an approach to a charity could be worth trying.

If a tenant cannot afford floor coverings we should expect them to make every effort to be considerate to their neighbours and reduce noise. If they are inconsiderate and nuisance results enforcement action for breach of the tenancy conditions may still be appropriate notwithstanding the fact that the tenant is unable to afford floor coverings.

GM/SDT/final version/17 January 2011 (updated September 2014) 4 11. What to do if a tenants says they have not got carpets because they are worried about dust mites, allergies, hay fever or asthma etc

There are different schools of thought about dust mite allergies, more often than not the advice is that it can help if carpets are removed but there is a view that hard floors can actually generate more dust in the atmosphere. Guidance which may assist tenants on dealing with dust mites can be found: http://www.allergyuk.org/fs_indoor.aspx http://www.healthy-house.co.uk/

12. It is not sufficient for a tenant to say that they are concerned about dust mites or suffer from allergies for Islington Council not to enforce this tenancy condition. Unless an allergy is severe and there is corroborating medical evidence then, in view of the distress caused by noise nuisance, in most cases enforcement will be appropriate especially as the tenancy condition allows for floor coverings other than carpet as long as they reduce noise in a similar way.

Most specialist advice about dust mite allergies emphasises that beds (especially) and soft furnishings and soft toys also harbour dust mites. If a tenant has soft furnishings (fabric armchairs and sofa and curtains typically), does not have dust or allergen proof covers on their mattress and pillows and does not keep their home dust free then not having carpets will make little difference to their exposure to dust mites.

In cases where all these measures to avoid dust mites are being taken tenants should be advised to seek specialist advice on alternative floor coverings to carpet for people suffering from allergies and that these may be acceptable with suitable underlay or sound reducing insulation.

Tenants can also be advised that dust mites can be significantly reduced by having short pile carpets and vacuuming often using one of the many vacuum cleaners designed to deal with dust mites or for people with allergies.

13. Enforcement

The approach to enforcement of the flooring tenancy conditions should be similar to the general approach to tenancy conditions enforcement.

Informal attempts to remedy the problem involving personal contact (always recorded on file) should be followed up when necessary by formal written warnings. Legal action, if it is necessary, would usually be enforcement by injunction.

Adopt a problem solving approach rather than a punitive one and try and get the two parties to engage in mediation.

The approach to enforcement of the lease should be the same.

GM/SDT/final version/17 January 2011 (updated September 2014) 5