I think visitors should respect house rules. We have friends with polished wood floors, a stone wedged in a boot sole would destroy the floor and show disrespect to the home owner. We have been to peoples houses where taking your shoes off would not be expected and if you did, your socks would end up filthy! Our house has off white floor tiles and light coloured rugs, we don’t think it unreasonable to ask visitors to remove their shoes. One person , when asked to take them off, said their shoes were clean and walked in leaving foot prints across one of our rugs, then apologised- I bit my lip but next time he took them off without asking
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Fortunately I have not come across anyone who thought like that because I would be uneasy walking about in bare feet. I haven’t worn socks since 1999 and even before that only between October and May.
Also fortunately, we have never had anyone visit here who expected to remove their shoes, and we have on average over 30 people in and out of our doors 7 days a week, none have shown the slightest inclination to remove shoes nor would I want them to.
Intriguing.
What are your other house rules?
The aim for gîte cleanliness is that one can walk around in bare feet and they will stay pristine. I did check it once and it was actually difficult to achieve, despite few shoes having trod those tiles.
I think it is just common decency not to walk into someone’s house wearing shoes , just as you wouldn’t light up a cigarette , or just wander off round their house to find the loo ,without asking first.
People differ in their standards. Some people are very house proud whereas others are not.
Asking first is just good manners and costs nothing, to do otherwise is just plain rude.
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On buying a house years ago from what seemed like a nice family, we inherited a carpet full of cat fleas. It took a bit of time to finish them off.
And how long to get rid of the fleas? 
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There’s an expectation that one doesn’t wear muddy or faeces covered shoes in someone’s home in normal circumstances.
This is an interesting discussion.
The thought of wearing socks or having bare feet in a house with pets is pretty unappealing.
It now seems to me that taking your own slippers everywhere seems like the best solution.
I knew someone who took his slippers to work and changed into them when he got there.
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Anthropologists head on🤔
Just wondering how many of the expat UK posters that have house rules on shoes off and slippers on, lived on or were bought up in council houses or similar?
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My children had to wear slippers in primaire here to keep the floors clean as so many of the pupils came from farms with the mud caked shoes to match. The headmaster was fed up of them just trailing in and leaving it everywhere after the cleaners had already been in. Same with writing lessons, they all used slates and chalk to save on paper and pens that we had to buy each year.
Oh that brings back memories! Moving into a new place as a student and I remember standing in front room and being (initially) baffled by the black spots appearing on my legs and spreading ever upwards.
I didn’t live in one but spent every afternoon being looked after in a council flat as both my parents worked “till quite late. Bartie and Ken had slippers by the door for me. Mind you Ken (the son) was a very well turned out hoover salesman with a fondness for strong aftershave who never married. Lovely man, and took me to steam engine fairs at weekends.
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Not council housing but a privately owned home by my parents who were very house proud and had fitted carpets everywhere so we had no choice but to remove our shoes and wear slippers or keep our socks on. Mum did not like bare feet on her carpets at any cost especially after wearing flipflops outside. Its just how they were and I love my furry boot slippers currently to protect my operation sites on my feet but once the weather gets very hot again, I shall be barefooted again to keep cool.
I wasn’t but are you suggesting shoes on, shoes off is a class thing
@JaneJones you have amended your post while I was writing, thought I was replying to you but now its to @Wozza ?
When I was at school in Scotland in the late 1970s and early 80s we had to change from outdoor shoes into indoor shoes and leave those outdoor shoes in the booter along with our navy-blue gabardine cloaks until we went outside again.
I’m surprised that no-one has suggested a good old-fashioned compromise: one shoe off, one shoe on…
Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John,
Went to bed with his trousers on ?
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Are you suggesting a ‘trousers on or off’ sub-thread?
I made my excuses and left…
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No, that really would be pants.
A turnup for the books.
No flies on me.
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I was sure everyone would get that - it’s childs play.