Flooring Installation Costs in London: 2026 Price Guide
Updated 12 June 2026|8 min read
New flooring in London costs £20–£120 per square metre supplied and fitted in 2026, depending on the material. Laminate sits at the bottom at £25–£45 per square metre, luxury vinyl tile (LVT) at £35–£70, engineered wood at £60–£120 and carpet at £20–£45. Subfloor preparation and, in flats, acoustic underlay add to the figure. This guide prices flooring by material per square metre so you can budget your project, whether you are a homeowner or a landlord choosing hard-wearing floors.
How much does flooring cost per square metre in London in 2026?
Flooring is priced per square metre supplied and fitted, and the material is by far the biggest variable, ranging from budget carpet to premium engineered wood at four times the price.
Laminate is the budget hard floor at £25–£45 per square metre supplied and fitted: convincing wood-effect finishes, quick click-fit installation and good scratch resistance, though it cannot be sanded and is not fully waterproof. LVT (luxury vinyl tile) runs £35–£70 per square metre: waterproof, warm and quiet underfoot, and now the default choice for kitchens and bathrooms. Engineered wood at £60–£120 per square metre is real timber on a stable ply base, sandable and the most premium look. Carpet ranges £20–£45 per square metre fitted including underlay, from budget to wool blends.
The table shows typical supply-and-fit rates by material. The fitting labour is broadly similar across materials, so the per-square-metre cost is driven mainly by the product you choose, with VAT applying to most work. Always confirm whether the rate includes underlay, beading and door trims.
Material
Supply & fit per sqm (London, 2026)
Carpet (incl. underlay)
£20 – £45
Laminate
£25 – £45
LVT (luxury vinyl tile)
£35 – £70
Engineered wood
£60 – £120
Solid hardwood
£90 – £150+
Choosing the right flooring by material
Each flooring material suits different rooms and budgets, and choosing the wrong one for a space is a costly mistake to put right later.
Laminate is the value choice for bedrooms, living rooms and hallways where wood effect is wanted on a budget. It is hard-wearing and scratch-resistant but not fully waterproof, so it is a poor fit for bathrooms and a risk in kitchens. LVT solves that: fully waterproof, warm and quiet, it suits any room including kitchens and bathrooms, and its durability and easy maintenance make it extremely popular in London flats and rentals.
Engineered wood is the premium choice for living rooms and bedrooms where a real-timber look matters; it is more stable than solid wood, can be sanded once or twice, and works over underfloor heating, unlike solid hardwood. Solid hardwood is the top tier, beautiful and long-lived but the most expensive and the most sensitive to moisture and movement. Carpet remains the warm, quiet, affordable choice for bedrooms and stairs, with wool and wool-blends at the upper end outwearing cheap synthetics.
For most London projects, LVT in wet and high-traffic areas and engineered wood or carpet in living and sleeping rooms is the combination that balances cost, durability and appearance.
Subfloor preparation and levelling
The floor you walk on is only as good as the surface beneath it, and subfloor preparation is the cost most often missing from a cheap flooring quote.
Hard floors (laminate, LVT, engineered wood) demand a flat, sound, dry subfloor. London floors rarely arrive that way: concrete floors are often uneven, and timber floors flex and have gaps. Levelling a concrete floor with a self-levelling compound costs £15–£30 per square metre, and it is not optional, laying LVT or laminate over an uneven floor leaves a surface that dips, clicks and fails at the joints within months.
Timber subfloors usually need overboarding with plywood or hardboard to provide a flat, stable base, adding £10–£25 per square metre. Old floorboards that are simply being sanded and finished rather than covered are a different job (£25–£45 per square metre to sand and seal), but where a new floor goes on top, the boards almost always need overboarding first.
The practical point: a flooring quote that excludes subfloor preparation is not comparable to one that includes it, and on London's uneven floors the preparation is frequently the difference between a floor that lasts and one that fails. We assess the subfloor at survey and quote the preparation openly, because the most expensive flooring fault is the one laid over a subfloor that was never made ready.
Subfloor work
Typical cost per sqm (London, 2026)
Self-levelling compound (concrete)
£15 – £30
Overboarding (timber subfloor)
£10 – £25
Acoustic underlay (flats)
£8 – £20
Sanding & sealing existing boards
£25 – £45
Acoustic underlay: a lease requirement in flats
If you are laying a hard floor in a flat, there is a step that does not apply in a house, and ignoring it can put you in breach of your lease.
Most leasehold flats carry a clause requiring floors to be carpeted, or to meet a specified acoustic standard, precisely because hard floors transmit footstep noise to the flat below. Replacing carpet with laminate, LVT or wood without an acoustic underlay is one of the most common causes of neighbour disputes and, in some cases, a formal breach of lease that the freeholder can enforce.
The solution is an acoustic underlay designed to reduce impact sound transmission, adding roughly £8–£20 per square metre over a standard underlay. Many leases or managing agents specify a minimum acoustic performance (often quoted as a decibel reduction), and the underlay must meet it; a good flooring fitter will check the lease requirement before quoting. Some buildings require sign-off or evidence of the underlay specification used.
The practical advice for flat owners: read the lease (or ask the managing agent) before replacing a carpet with a hard floor, budget for the acoustic underlay, and keep the product specification in case the freeholder asks. The underlay is a small cost against the alternative, a dispute with the flat below or an instruction to take the floor back up. We check lease and acoustic requirements for flat clients before laying a single board.
For landlords, flooring is a long-term investment that has to survive multiple tenancies, and the choices that suit an owner-occupier are not always the ones that make sense in a rental.
LVT is the landlord's default for good reason: it is waterproof, extremely hard-wearing, easy to clean, and individual planks can be replaced if damaged without redoing the whole floor. It survives spills, pets, dragged furniture and the general wear of changing tenants far better than laminate, and unlike carpet it does not stain or need replacing every couple of tenancies. The higher upfront cost over laminate pays back across several tenancies.
Where carpet is wanted, in bedrooms or to meet a flat's acoustic requirement, a mid-range synthetic or wool-blend with a good underlay outlasts a cheap carpet that flattens and stains within a tenancy. The cheapest carpet is usually a false economy in a rental.
The principle for landlords is total cost over the life of the floor, not the upfront price. A durable LVT floor that survives five tenancies costs less per year than a cheap laminate replaced twice, and far less than carpet replaced between every tenant. We help landlords spec flooring for durability and easy replacement, because the floor that does not need touching between tenancies is the one that protects the rent roll.
Budgeting a flooring project in London
Pulling the figures together, a realistic flooring budget is the material rate plus subfloor preparation plus, in flats, acoustic underlay, and missing any of these is how a quote turns out too good to be true.
Take a typical 20 square metre living room. At LVT rates of £35–£70 per square metre, the supply and fit is £700–£1,400. Add self-levelling on a concrete floor at £15–£30 per square metre (£300–£600), or overboarding a timber floor at £10–£25 (£200–£500), and the realistic total is £900–£2,000. In a flat, acoustic underlay adds another £160–£400. The headline material rate alone would have understated the job by half.
The lesson for budgeting is to insist on a quote that itemises material, subfloor preparation and underlay separately, so you can compare like with like and see where the cost actually sits. A quote that gives only a single low per-square-metre figure has almost certainly left the preparation out, and the preparation is where a cheap floor becomes an expensive failure.
Whatever the material and budget, the principles hold: choose the right floor for each room, never skip subfloor preparation, fit acoustic underlay in flats, and buy quality where the floor takes hard wear. We quote flooring with the preparation itemised, so the figure you budget is the figure the job actually costs.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does flooring cost per square metre fitted in London?
Flooring in London costs £20–£120 per square metre supplied and fitted in 2026: carpet £20–£45, laminate £25–£45, LVT £35–£70 and engineered wood £60–£120, with solid hardwood £90–£150+. Subfloor preparation and, in flats, acoustic underlay add to these figures and should be quoted separately.
How much does LVT flooring cost fitted in London?
LVT (luxury vinyl tile) costs £35–£70 per square metre supplied and fitted in London. It is waterproof, warm and quiet underfoot, making it the default choice for kitchens, bathrooms and rentals. Subfloor levelling at £15–£30 per square metre is usually needed underneath, and acoustic underlay at £8–£20 per square metre is required in most flats.
Do I need acoustic underlay for flooring in a flat?
Almost certainly yes. Most leasehold flats require floors to meet an acoustic standard, because hard floors transmit footstep noise below. Acoustic underlay adds £8–£20 per square metre, and laying a hard floor without it is a common cause of neighbour disputes and can breach your lease. Check the lease or managing agent before replacing a carpet with a hard floor.
How much does subfloor preparation cost for new flooring?
Self-levelling compound on a concrete floor costs £15–£30 per square metre, and overboarding a timber subfloor £10–£25 per square metre. It is rarely optional: laying laminate or LVT over an uneven floor leaves a surface that dips, clicks and fails at the joints. A quote that excludes subfloor preparation is not comparable to one that includes it.
What is the best flooring for a rental property?
LVT is the landlord's default: waterproof, extremely hard-wearing, easy to clean, and individual planks can be replaced if damaged. It survives multiple tenancies far better than laminate or carpet, so its higher upfront cost pays back over time. Where carpet is needed, a mid-range wool-blend outlasts a cheap carpet that flattens within a tenancy.
