Children and disabled people in Cornwall are having to sleep on bare concrete floors in housing association properties, due to many social landlords ripping up carpets and flooring between tenants.

There is now a national move by anti-poverty campaigners for social landlords to stop tearing up carpets and leaving many new occupants with bare floors. Most social housing landlords rip up flooring when a tenant moves out due to hygiene – but it's not always replaced quickly.

Around 1.2 million people in the UK have no carpet or flooring in their bedrooms and living areas, a new survey suggests. The vast majority of people living without flooring in all rooms – 760,000 – were in social housing, according to a survey of 5,500 people carried out by the National Centre for Social Research. It also found 4.8 million adults in the UK were living without at least one item of essential furniture, like floors, beds, fridges, curtains, or blinds.

By law, UK landlords only have to put flooring in kitchens and bathrooms. Campaign group End Furniture Poverty is calling for this law to extend to the rest of the house. It is urging housing associations to inspect and reuse what is already there where possible.

Cornish charity Hidden Help recycles unwanted household goods to people in need in the community. It says the problem is apparent in Cornwall, although at least one housing association in the county is doing all it can to alleviate the situation.

A spokesperson said: "This is very much the experience we have with our clients in Cornwall as a big chunk of our budget goes on carpet tiles. Of the 27 referrals we had last month, many needed carpets. There seems no reason this should happen – in some cases we've found people were sleeping on bare concrete floors. Curtain rods are taken out which is another expense for us.

"For example, a tenant leaving a social housing property in Cornwall was told to remove the new carpets, wallpaper, curtains poles, etc, from their spotless house which had been very well looked by them. It's madness!"

The charity is meeting with Cornwall Council soon to suggest the local authority becomes a trailblazer in allowing carpets to be kept in social housing properties, unless they really do need to be replaced.

Started by Judy Backus 15 years ago, Hidden Help became a registered charity a year ago and helps those in urgent need in Cornwall to make a new home and a fresh start with recycled household items donated by the local community. Judy and her volunteers help those referred by Cornwall Council's social services department and other statutory bodies. The homeless, refugees, ex-prisoners, the elderly, long-term sick, and those being rehoused or fleeing domestic violence are among those given assistance.

Judy Backus and her husband load the charity\'s van to help people in need in Cornwall

Judy still lugs furniture into the back of her van – which she paid for by selling "granny's pearls" – at the age of 82.

She said: "I've been concerned about this situation for 15 years. When we question people about carpets being ripped out, they say 'well, they might have had a dog there and there might be fleas'. They don't want the responsibility of somebody presumably complaining about something.

"We're told curtain rails have to go because they might have been put up badly. Right, okay, but why do you have to take them away? Somebody could just put them up better if that was the case. It is costing us. We're happy to store and deliver carpets and other items if the council can pay for them."

She added: "We've gone down to a flat in Falmouth where a disabled man had nothing. He'd been put in that flat the night before and was lying on a concrete floor. I got a call this morning, someone was being put in a flat in Penzance – there was nothing, no carpets.

Judy Backus, head of Hidden Help, says she is depressed by the situation in Cornwall

"It's not just a waste of money, it means more items going into landfill. It's gone on for so long that I've got over being angry about it; it's just depressing. When you see a child going to sleep on a concrete floor, it's terrible."

A spokesperson for Coastline Housing said: "Wherever possible, when one tenant is moving out and another moving in, we seek to leave good quality carpets in place. It's our policy to recycle whatever we can so if carpets and curtains are good enough they will be left in a property and any old furniture will be taken to second hand shops rather than discarded. If we need to we will also provide a full clean of the carpets as well to make sure they are in the best state for the incoming customer to use.

"On some rare occasions, we may need to remove carpets when the condition is very poor, to avoid flea or other contamination. But we are experienced in spotting these problems and only do this when absolutely necessary.

"If we have had to remove the carpet and an incoming customer is unable to afford flooring – or furniture for that matter – then we have a Sustainability Fund to help those that most need it to purchase things for their new home – be it carpeting, white goods or furniture. It depends on what they are able to source and what will help them the most. We have been doing this for a few years now and it's really successful.

"This doesn't only cover new customers, we will work with any customer struggling to afford basic things such as carpet or white goods during their tenancy with us and help them no matter how long they have been with us. We also work with a number of other fantastic local charities that we can signpost people to."

We have also contacted other housing associations in Cornwall for comment.