How to choose the right flooring for your flat

You’ve just moved into a new flat – how exciting! Whether you’ve bought or you’re renting, there’s so much you’ll want to change to make your place feel like home, from the colour of the walls to the flooring. But before you begin, there are a few things you need to consider when choosing flooring for flats. With neighbours on all sides, sound insulation should definitely be at the top of your flooring checklist, but the type of flat you live in will also influence your decision. Our guide on the best flooring for flats will cover this and more.

Keep reading or jump ahead to find out:

What to consider for when choosing flooring for a flat
What’s the best flooring for rented flats?
What’s the best flooring for owned flats?
Can I have laminate flooring in a flat?

What to consider for when choosing flooring for a flat

There are a few key differences when picking flooring for a flat versus a house. With a house, you only need to think about your tastes and what works for your lifestyle. For a flat, you’re living above, below or next to other people, so you need to choose flooring that's quieter, among other things.

Flooring benefits and features

Good sound absorption – Noise travels so making sure you have flooring with excellent sound absorption is really important – especially if you live with someone who’s a stomper or a shouter! A good quality underlay can also help with this.
Hardwearing – With one floor and less rooms in a flat, there tends to be a lot more foot traffic throughout the space, so the flooring you pick should be incredibly durable. This is even more important in a rented flat, where more people will come and go over the years.
Easy to clean – If you rent your flat or you’re planning on renting it out, then you’ll want to go for something very low-maintenance that’s stain resistant and easy to take care of.
Great value – For a lot of people, their first home is a flat but not what they would class as their ‘forever home’. So, when choosing a floor, you don’t want to spend lots on it if you only plan on living there for a few years.

Flat layout

You should also think about the apartment layout or type of flat you’re furnishing as well, as each offers different challenges:

Studio apartment – When you’re living, eating and sleeping all in one space, your apartment flooring needs to be a hard-working multi-tasker!
Open plan apartment – Having the same flooring throughout the entire flat will make an open plan space feel much bigger and more connected.
Ground floor flat – You’re likely to have a garden (lucky you!) but this means muddy footprints coming in from outside so water resistant flooring is essential. The ground floor is also colder, so you’ll also need good thermal insulation.
First floor flat – With neighbours above and below you, soundproof flooring is vital to reduce the noise of footsteps and people talking.
Top floor flat or loft apartment – You might get the most natural light being on the top floor with your big windows, but you’ll need a UV resistant floor to prevent fading from sunlight.

What’s the best flooring for rented flats?

If you’re a landlord, flooring that’s easy to clean and hardwearing is the most cost-effective option for a rented flat. And if you’re renting a flat yourself, read our ‘Can I change the floor in a rented flat’ guide before you go ripping up the floor! Here are the types of flooring that are best for rented flats:

Laminate – Laminate is loved by landlords because it’s one of the cheaper smooth flooring options but it’s also durable and low maintenance. It looks just like a real wooden floor, and if any of the planks become damaged, they’re really easy to remove and replace. You’ll need to add a laminate underlay though so bear that in mind when calculating your costs.
Luxury vinyl – Although more expensive than laminate, luxury vinyl has the added benefit of being water and stain resistant. It can stand up to lots of footfall, so it’s perfect for a holiday letting. Some LVT styles even have built-in underlay for extra comfort and insulation. It comes in both wood and stone tile designs so there’s something to suit all tastes.
Vinyl - If you want to create the look of ceramic tiles for a lot less, vinyl flooring is another budget-friendly smooth flooring option. There are so many colourful and fun designs perfect for adding personality to a rental property and some types have cushioned felt backing which helps with sound and heat insulation.

If you like the look of a smooth floor in a flat but you’re worried about the noise, a large rug will help to dampen ambient sound, as well as add a layer of texture to your space.

What’s the best flooring for owned flats?

When taking into account all of the key features flooring for apartments or flats needs to have, there are a few that stand out from the crowd:

Carpet – Carpet is a firm favourite for flats thanks to its amazing insulating and sound absorption properties. It’s great value - you can get good quality carpets that are really robust and stain resistant with a soft pile that bounces back. Paired with luxury vinyl in the kitchen and bathroom, they’re a dream team.
Engineered wood – If you want to invest in your flat, then natural engineered wood really amps up the luxury. Engineered wood is made up of layers, and each layer decreases the sound transmission, so it’s much better for apartment flooring than solid wood.

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Can I have laminate flooring in a flat?

Check your paperwork to see if there’s a clause about fitting laminate flooring in a flat. It’s often written into the deeds of the leasehold that you can’t have hard flooring in a flat above the ground floor because of the noise transmission.

If you decide to fit laminate flooring in your flat when it’s not allowed, just be aware that the issue will arise when you sell it. Depending on your buyers, you might need to replace laminate with carpet as per the deeds before the sale can go through. It’s best to double check what the rules are with your flat management company before making a costly mistake!

There are so many choices when it comes to choosing a new floor for your flat, but most of the time it comes down to budget. You need to weigh up how much you want to invest in your flat versus how long you’ll live there before deciding on the flooring. We have a useful guide on how to budget for new flooring, and if you pop into a Tapi store, our floorologists can show you all the different samples to help you find the perfect fit.