Dudley Council spends up to £2.5m each year replacing flooring before new tenants move into social housing.
The cost was revealed at a meeting of the authority’s Corporate Parenting Board on July 2 in response to concerns raised at the authority.
At the meeting, councillors heard answers to questions about why seemingly perfectly good flooring was being ripped out of council homes.
Committee chairperson, Cllr Wayne Little, said: “We wanted reassurance that if it’s decent it isn’t just taken up blindly because there is some policy that says it has to be done, even though good sense says it could stay down.”
A report for the committee said while the Inside Housing publication says the average cost to install floor coverings is estimated at £920, Dudley’s costs are around £2,500 per property.
The council’s housing director Katherine Jones told the committee her department turns over around 1,000 homes for new tenants every year.
Ms Jones said: “What we are talking about here is living rooms, bedrooms, halls, stairs and landings.
“We keep on our radar at all times that it is something that requires significant investment, it’s not an insignificant amount of money that will be required.
“We are currently having to balance that with the fact there is no additional budget.”
Flooring is removed for new tenants due to a number of reasons, used carpet and flooring can be a health risk if infested with pests like fleas or mites and can be contaminated with allergens, bacteria and odours. Also some types of flooring installed by tenants like laminate can be damaged or breach regulations including fire safety rules.
Ms Jones added: “It is not a case of just lifting that up just because we have a void turnaround.
“We may have flooring down that on the face of it looks neat and tidy and could be left in but we always check for infestations which can’t always be seen, and for things like fire safety.
“There is not a blanket policy on removing flooring.”
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