Price cuts for rugs helped flooring retail prices fall by only the second time in a year, in May.
Flooring saw price increases of 1.7% in April become a fall of 0.3% in May: the only fall in the past year part from January 2024.
A year ago flooring CPI inflation stood at 10.3%, according to ONS data.
Driven by the cuts to rug prices, the inflation rate for carpets and rugs dropped from 3.3% in April to 0.2% in May: the joint-lowest rate in the past year.
A year ago the rate was 11.5%.
Other flooring categories continued to see deflation, with prices down 1.6%. This is the sixth consecutive monthly fall, but is lower that April’s drop of 4.2%.