Carpet fitting cost in the UK, 2026

Carpet fitting costs start from £40 per square metre fitted in the UK in 2026. For carpet tiles, the starting point is from £45/m² fitted. The full cost of a job depends on the floor area, the fitting labour, and the separate items around preparation and finishing.

Most pricing guides give you one number. We do not. We split labour from materials and break out every extra item so you can see what you are paying for and compare two quotes on a level footing.

At a glance

• Carpet starts from £40/m² fitted
• Carpet tiles start from £45/m² fitted
• Underlay, gripper, door bars, uplift, disposal, furniture moving and door trimming are priced separately
• The fitted rate is the starting point. The line items around it set the whole-job total
• Two quotes are only comparable once both state which of those extras they include

What You Are Actually Paying For: Labour vs. Materials

The fitted square metre rate covers the floorcovering and the labour to install it. The items around the edge of the job sit outside that rate and need to be stated separately on any quote. Some are always required. Others depend on the condition of the property and whether the rooms are cleared before we arrive.

Item	What it covers	How it is priced
Carpet	Supply and fitting labour	From £40/m² fitted
Carpet tiles	Supply and fitting labour	From £45/m² fitted
Underlay	Material and fitting	Priced separately per m²
Gripper	Perimeter fixing strip	Per room or per linear metre
Door bars	Threshold trims at room edges	Per bar
Uplift of old floor	Labour to remove existing covering	Per m² or per room
Disposal	Waste handling and removal	Per load or per job
Furniture moving	Labour to clear and replace	Per room
Door trimming	Easing doors where new floor raises the level	Per door

A quote that only shows a square metre rate has not yet told you whether underlay, uplift or disposal are included. That is the gap most readers are trying to close when they compare two prices.

What a Cheap Quote Leaves Out

A low headline number is not necessarily wrong. It may simply be incomplete. Before you decide which quote to accept, check which of the items in the table above each quote actually includes.

The items most often absent from a low number are:

• Underlay. Some quotes price the carpet and fitting and leave underlay as a separate conversation on the day.
• Uplift of the old floor. Removing the existing carpet or flooring takes time. If it is not on the quote, it will be added.
• Disposal. Uplifted flooring has to go somewhere. Licensed disposal has a cost.
• Door bars. Threshold trims at doorways and room edges are easy to overlook until the fitter reaches them.
• Door trimming. If the new floor raises the build-up height, doors may need easing. That is a separate labour item.
• Furniture moving. If rooms are not cleared before the fitter arrives, moving and replacing furniture adds time and cost.

Two quotes are only comparable once you know which of these each one covers. A quote at from £40/m² fitted that includes underlay, uplift, disposal and door bars is a different proposition from one at a lower rate that excludes all of them.

The single most useful question to ask any fitter before accepting a price: what is included, and what will be added on the day?

How Much Does It Cost to Carpet a Three-Bedroom House?

A three-bedroom house carpet job gets priced in three steps. First, measure the floor area of each room in square metres. Second, multiply that area by the fitted rate. Third, add the separate line items for the scope around the fitting.

The method: area in m² x fitted rate = base cost. Then add underlay, gripper, uplift, disposal, door bars, furniture moving and any door trimming.

Example calculation

The example below uses residential carpet fitting at from £40/m² fitted across five areas. Measure your own rooms in the same way and the method works for any house.

Area	Size	Rate	Subtotal
Lounge	20m²	From £40/m² fitted	From £800
Main bedroom	16m²	From £40/m² fitted	From £640
Bedroom 2	12m²	From £40/m² fitted	From £480
Bedroom 3	10m²	From £40/m² fitted	From £400
Hall and landing	17m²	From £40/m² fitted	From £680
Total carpeted area	75m²		From £3,000

Adding the separate line items

Once the base figure is set, the next step is to add:

• Underlay (priced per m² across the same 75m²)
• Gripper, if listed separately on the quote
• Door bars at each threshold
• Uplift of the old floor, if carpet is already down
• Disposal of the uplifted material
• Furniture moving, if rooms are not cleared before fitting
• Door trimming, where the new floor raises the build-up height

On a clear site with sound subfloors and empty rooms, the gap between the base figure and the whole-job total stays modest. On an occupied house with old flooring to remove and doors to ease, it grows. The area sets the base. The condition of the property and the scope around the fitting set the rest.

How Much to Carpet Stairs and Landing

Stairs and landing carpet starts from £40/m² fitted. Labour runs higher than an open room because each tread, riser and turn takes more cutting and finishing. A straight flight is the simpler end of the range. Winder stairs, where the treads taper around a turn, take longer again because each tread is a different shape and the waste factor increases.

The method is the same: measure the total area in square metres, multiply by the fitted rate, then add the separate line items.

For example, if the stairs and landing measure 18m² in total:

18m² x from £40/m² fitted = from £720

That covers the carpet and fitting as a starting point. Uplift, disposal, door bars where the landing meets another floor finish, and furniture near the landing top are then added separately.

Why stair measurements matter

A rough estimate of stair area often understates the job. Nosings, the front edges of each tread, add to the measured area. Winder treads create offcuts that cannot be reused. These are the reasons stair jobs vary more in final cost than a straightforward rectangular room of the same area, even when the square metre rate starts from the same figure.

Commercial Carpet Tile Costs Per m²

Commercial carpet tiles start from £45/m² fitted. For example, an office area of 120m² gives a starting figure of:

120m² x from £45/m² fitted = from £5,400

Carpet tiles suit commercial projects well because they can be priced and installed on a straightforward square metre basis. They also allow phased work across a building, with different areas measured and installed in sequence.

What moves a commercial carpet tile quote is usually not the tile rate itself. The subfloor condition is the most common variable. Open-plan offices often have old adhesive residue, uneven screeds or contaminated surfaces that need addressing before tiles go down. The amount of uplift required, the number of threshold details and whether the space is occupied during fitting all affect the final figure. A quote is only useful once those items are stated.

What Changes the Price?

Three things move a carpet quote more than the square metre rate: subfloor condition, winder staircases and glued-down old flooring.

Subfloor condition

Most flooring problems start underneath, not on top. Before we lay anything we check the subfloor with a 2m straightedge, part of the subfloor preparation on every job, because most manufacturers want it flat to within 3mm over that span. If it is out, we level it with a latex screed, a self-levelling compound poured over the existing base. It adds time and, where levelling compound is needed, material cost. It is also the difference between a floor that lasts and one that telegraphs every dip within eighteen months.

Winder staircases

A straight staircase is simpler to measure and fit. Winder stairs are not. The tapered treads each have a different shape, which means more cutting, more shaping and more waste. The labour is slower even when the measured area does not look much larger on paper.

Glued-down old flooring

Some old floors lift cleanly. Others do not. If the existing covering is glued down hard, removing it takes significantly longer and the disposal volume increases. That affects both the labour element and the disposal cost before the new carpet goes anywhere near the floor. It is one of the items most worth confirming before a quote is accepted, because the uplift scope can change the total more than the carpet rate itself.

Where These Prices Apply

These guide prices cover work across Hertfordshire, Essex, London and the wider South East. London jobs often run higher once labour access, parking, programme pressure and site logistics are factored in, so a survey and a written quote matter more than a headline square metre rate. If you are outside these areas, get in touch for a quote and we will tell you honestly whether we can cover the job.