Are luxury vinyl tiles in bedrooms a premium (London)?

[ldnflatbuyer2021]

Hi,
we recently bought a flat in Zone 2 (close to Zone 1) London.
Living in it for now, but probably rent it out in 3-5 years as it's a very high demand area.

Currently the flat has:

• in the living room - old laminate (6-7 years, underlay is pretty bad)
• in the hallway and bedrooms - 5 year old solid quality carpets

Would you recommend putting in new Luxury Vinyl tiles on:
a) living room and hallway (we are 95% sure on this)
b) living room, hallway and the two bedrooms (60% sure of this)?

PROs:

• personally we prefer "hardwood" floors as they're cleaner even though a bit colder we always wear slippers
• the lease doesn't say you need to have carpets

CONs:

• it's about £1k extra for the LVT + installation in the two bedrooms when the carpets are actually pretty good... so feels a bit wasteful.
• not sure if they also add any value if we were to rent it or sell the flat in which case the new person will just replace them?
• carpets are sort of 50:50 for bedrooms - most bedrooms do have carpets and not "hard" flooring like LVT.

LVT isnt something I'd use in a bedroom, and it won't add value there. It will be an improvement on the laminate in the living room though.

You say you like hardwood. Can I ask why you aren't considering wood instead of LVT? Is it cost?

We have LVT in our kitchen, but we only fitted it there because it's better than wood in a moist environment. It doesn't look like real wood (which is fine).

It won't add value compared to decent carpet, I mean.

Tbh, floor coverings very rarely add any kind of real value anyway, so I'd take that question out of the equation anyway.

@CSJobseeker

LVT isnt something I'd use in a bedroom, and it won't add value there. It will be an improvement on the laminate in the living room though.

You say you like hardwood. Can I ask why you aren't considering wood instead of LVT? Is it cost?

We have LVT in our kitchen, but we only fitted it there because it's better than wood in a moist environment. It doesn't look like real wood (which is fine).

Sorry I confused Hardwood with LVT. They are similar looking so I consider it "equivalent" to hardwood.

I don't think Parquet or engineered wood makes sense as it costs 2-3x more than LVT. Definitely if it was our forever place - but this flat is not.

Value wise, if I viewed a property with vinyl flooring in the bedrooms, I'd think damn, I need to change it to carpet (likewise with lounge flooring, but that's less of an issue) and would offer accordingly, but I appreciate other people will have different opinions. I wouldn't waste money changing carpet that's alright, personally.

@stingofthebutterfly

Value wise, if I viewed a property with vinyl flooring in the bedrooms, I'd think damn, I need to change it to carpet (likewise with lounge flooring, but that's less of an issue) and would offer accordingly, but I appreciate other people will have different opinions. I wouldn't waste money changing carpet that's alright, personally.

I agree - vinyl is terrible.

But these are Luxury Vinyl Tiles - very similar to proper hardwood, very hardwearing. Totally different from vinyl flooring.
Also much better than laminate.

Personally I would keep carpet in the bedrooms and refurbished as needed ie change in 6 years or whatever.

British people generally prefer carpet.

You won't add value with new flooring but if its what you love crack on because honestly a grand here or there is nothing in London property terms.

LVT is great (like I say, I've got Karndean in my kitchen) but it's not similar to wood. It doesn't look like real wood in the slightest (too shiny, and the surface just looks different). It's fine, but I wouldnt choose LVT 'because it's similar to hardwood' because it isn't.

And you wont add value whatever you choose, so I'd leave the carpet in the bedrooms but update the tatty laminate in the living room with the LVT.

Ugh no don't put vinyl in the bedroom or living room. It won't add value and unless it's a dead ringer for the real wood (unlikely) it would be something I'd be calculating how much to change it. There's a reason why real or engineered wood is more expensive!

Is it a ground floor flat? If not anything that isn't carpet or with special noise cancelling underlay will be making life very uncomfortable for whoever lives below.

LVT is not at all similar to hardwood. If you are choosing LVT that had a wood effect design it is still LVT.

Definitely leave the carpets in the bedrooms.

You’re not going to add value by adding luxury vinyl, it’s still vinyl.

What market is your flat in?

I’m central (zone 1). Premium flats round here have wood flooring and that is what would expect not LVT even if it is wood effect. If you are really sold on LVT only do it in hallway/living space.

Bedrooms either wood or carpet. Definitely NOT LVT.

@MauveMavis

What market is your flat in?

I’m central (zone 1). Premium flats round here have wood flooring and that is what would expect not LVT even if it is wood effect. If you are really sold on LVT only do it in hallway/living space.

Bedrooms either wood or carpet. Definitely NOT LVT.

Zone 2 - close to zone 1. Around 50 sq.m., 2 bed, £1700-£1900/month.

Have you checked the lease? It may impact what flooring you can have down.

Personally I'd never put hard flooring in a bedroom in a flat, mainly because of the noise issues.

I have LVT across the whole of downstairs, hallway, kitchen and lounge. It wasn't cheap, in fact it was comparable to engineered wood but we didn't want the latter in the kitchen personally. So LVT it is. It looks nice and I think it added value for sure. BUT. We have a nice rug in the lounge which works well. I'd never go with LVT in bedrooms and I wouldn't have rugs in bedrooms either. Carpet 100%.

LVT is better than laminate but definitely not something I’d consider ‘premium’ and nowhere near hardwood in look or feel. I’d leave the carpets in the bedrooms and just do the hallway and main living area.

I had a central London flat where I installed LVT throughout. I have never had anything but carpet in the bedroom since. The flat was super warm (great insulation so I barely used the heating) but the LVT was cold under foot. It was also very noisy and the sound echoed around the flat. So at night if you knock a book off the side table, it’s so loud! For me, a flat with carpet in the bedrooms is ideal.
On the LVT/wood debate on MN, there is huge snobbery. If you pick a premium LVT (e.g. top range Amtico), it’ll wear brilliantly and be seen as a benefit. It’s only the knock-offs that have issues and fitting is everything so use the Amtico fitters so you get the long guarantee.
When people complain about the high end Amtico here, it’s not Amtico - or it would be refitted for free - or wasn’t fitted properly so not under guarantee. I had a mix in a previous house (not the flat) and the Karndean had problems - all caused by the dodgy fitting. The Amtico was perfect after 20 years so I learned not to cut corners from that point onwards.

This is ours in the master bedroom and I love it! Once the furniture is in you don't see much of it but it is so practical! And warm underfoot!

Not if the LVT is Karndean. Waste of money- scratches really easily.

Thing is it looks ok in photos and from a distance but up close it's clear what it is, it's too shiny etc. I'm not a carpet fan, we're lucky to live in an old house and have managed to restore the original parquet and floorboards downstairs, we've put tiles in the bathroom and will be putting hardwood in the kitchen when it's refurbed (next year) . I just think if you don't want the expense of hardwood floor example (proper Amtico is also expensive), don't get faux anything, just put carpet down maybe hardwood floor in the living areas, tiles or LVT at a push in the bathroom.

I think you need to go to a flooring shop in the New Year and look and feel these different types of flooring. LVT is vinyl - it looks and feels the same as good quality vinyl. The difference is it's laid on small pieces and so the product and the labour cost more.

Engineered wood looks and feels different. It costs more because again it's labour intensive to lay, but also because the lifespan is longer with care, and it's wood, the price of which has rocketed this year.

If you think they're the same, you don't know what the products are.

if you don't want the expense of hardwood floor example (proper Amtico is also expensive), don't get faux anything, just put carpet down maybe hardwood floor in the living areas, tiles or LVT at a push in the bathroom

Amtico is LVT.