How much does carpet fitting cost in the UK?
Carpet fitting only is £3 to £6 per m² on this guide’s allowance, subject to minimum charges. Carpet supplied and fitted is £15 to £40 per m², with underlay and old-carpet removal listed separately. The calculator covers supply and fitting. Prices reviewed July 2026.
Carpet fitting cost calculator
Use the calculator to price your carpet fitting in 2026. Adjust the options and area for a UK cost range. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Carpet fitting only is budgeted here at £3 to £6 per m², subject to the fitter’s minimum charge. Carpet supplied and fitted is £15 to £40 per m² before the separately listed underlay and uplift options. The calculator estimates supply and fitting, not fitting alone.
Fitting only: £3 to £6 per m², subject to minimum charges. The calculator above includes carpet supply and fitting; underlay and uplift are separate options.
Carpet fitting cost breakdown
Typical carpet fitting costs, by the unit:
| What | Typical UK cost |
|---|---|
| Per m², supplied and fitted | £15 to £40 per m² |
| + Underlay and grippers | add £4 to £8 per m² |
| + Uplift and dispose of old carpet | add £2 to £5 per m² |
| + Stairs (per flight) | add £40 to £120 |
| 10 m² | £150 to £400 |
| 20 m² (typical) | £300 to £800 |
| 40 m² | £600 to £1,600 |
What's included in the price?
Typical carpet fitting prices include:
- Carpet, supplied and laid
- Underlay and gripper rods, where the quote includes them, since many firms price them as an extra
- Trimming and finishing
- Doorway edging
What changes the price?
The things that move carpet fitting prices most:
Carpet grade and quality
Underlay type
Stairs, which are charged separately
Uplifting and disposing of the old carpet
Fitting only or carpet supplied and fitted?
For a 20 m² room, the fitting-only allowance of £3 to £6 per m² gives £60 to £120 before any minimum charge. The £15 to £40 per m² supply-and-fit calculator gives £300 to £800 for the same floor area. These are different scopes; do not add the fitting-only amount to the supply-and-fit total.
Underlay and grippers add £80 to £160 at 20 m² using this guide’s £4 to £8 allowance. Uplift and disposal add £40 to £100. Selecting both gives £420 to £1,060 with carpet and fitting, before stairs or unusual preparation. The arithmetic is illustrative and a roll cutting plan may increase the material quantity.
A 4 m by 5 m room is 20 m², but a 4.2 m-wide room does not necessarily fit a 4 m roll. Ask for the ordered roll dimensions and seam positions. Fitting is usually discussed in floor area, while carpet is bought in roll widths and cut lengths.
Stairs and minimum fitting charges
The £40 to £120 stair-flight option is a fitting allowance, not the complete price of carpeting a staircase. Stair carpet, landing area, underlay, stair shape and any specialist runner work still need to be measured and quoted.
Tapi’s fitting terms state that minimum charges and some supplements apply. Check the actual fitter’s total for your room, including accessories, old-floor removal and any furniture work; do not assume that multiplying a per-m² rate is the final bill.
Does where you live change the cost?
In London, carpet fitting typically costs around £30 per m², about 20% above the UK average of £25. In the North, Scotland and Wales the guide figure is nearer £25.
| Region | From | Typical | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midlands / East (UK average) | £15 | £25 | £40 |
| London | £20 | £30 | £50 |
| South East / South West | £15 | £25 | £40 |
| North / Scotland / Wales | £15 | £25 | £40 |
Guide prices per m², scaled with the same regional multipliers as the calculator. Not quotes.
Carpet fitting cost in major UK cities
| City | From | Typical | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast | £15 | £25 | £40 |
| Birmingham | £15 | £25 | £40 |
| Bristol | £15 | £25 | £40 |
| Cardiff | £15 | £25 | £40 |
| Edinburgh | £15 | £25 | £40 |
| Glasgow | £15 | £25 | £40 |
| Leeds | £15 | £25 | £40 |
| Liverpool | £15 | £25 | £40 |
| London | £20 | £30 | £50 |
| Manchester | £15 | £25 | £40 |
| Newcastle | £15 | £25 | £40 |
| Sheffield | £15 | £25 | £40 |
City guide estimates, scaled by local labour costs. Indicative averages for carpet fitting, not quotes.
Fairly consistent nationally, with London and the South East a little higher on labour.
Common questions
How much does carpet fitting cost?
Carpet fitting costs roughly £15 to £40 per m² supplied and fitted in the UK, typically around £25, so a 20 square metre lounge is about £300 to £800. Fitting-only labour, where you supply the carpet, is nearer £3 to £6 per m². Underlay and grippers add £4 to £8 per m², and stairs are charged separately at £40 to £120 a flight.
How much does it cost to carpet a 3-bed house?
Carpeting a typical 3-bed house, say the lounge, three bedrooms, stairs and landing, usually comes to £1,500 to £4,000 supplied and fitted, depending on the carpet grade. Budget carpet with standard underlay sits at the lower end; a wool or heavy-domestic carpet with good underlay reaches the top. Get the quote to separate the carpet, the underlay and the fitting.
How much does it cost to carpet stairs?
Carpeting a straight flight of about 13 to 14 stairs typically costs £40 to £120 in fitting on top of the carpet, because stairs are fiddly and slow compared with a flat room. Winding or turned staircases cost more. If you are carpeting the stairs and landing together, ask for them priced as one job.
Is it cheaper to fit carpet yourself?
Fitting a simple room yourself saves the £3 to £6 per m² labour, and for a small square room with no awkward edges it is doable with hired tools. The catch is stairs, doorways and stretching the carpet tight, which is where DIY jobs go wrong and look loose or rippled within weeks. For anything beyond one simple room, a fitter is usually worth it.
Does the price include underlay and gripper?
Not always, so check. Some quotes are carpet-only, with underlay (£4 to £8 per m²), gripper rods and door bars added separately. A good underlay makes a cheaper carpet feel better and last longer, so it is worth paying for rather than reusing old underlay. Ask for an itemised quote so you can compare like for like.
Does new carpet add value when selling a house?
Not really as an investment. At £15 to £40 per m² fitted, fresh carpet helps a room show well and can speed up a sale, but buyers rarely pay more than the cost of laying it. Treat it as presentation rather than added value. If carpets are tired and stained, replacing them before selling is worth it mainly for the first impression.
Who is responsible for getting rid of the old carpet?
The fitter, if lifting it is part of the job. The waste duty of care code of practice for England and Wales, issued under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, says a tradesperson working on your property is responsible for the waste they produce and should include the cost of disposing of it in their price, which is what the £2 to £5 per m² uplift charge covers. If you lift the old carpet yourself and then ask them to take it, it is your waste, so check they hold an upper tier waste carrier registration, a number starting CBDU, on the Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales register.
Official guidance and sources
The rules and schemes referenced on this page come from these official UK sources. The price figures are Costwise's own; see how we price.
- Waste duty of care: code of practice GOV.UK · The statutory code for England and Wales: a tradesperson is responsible for the waste their own work produces and should price its disposal into the job, while waste you produced and hand over brings in your own duty to check they are an authorised carrier.
Cite this data
These figures are free to use in articles, reports and research under a CC BY 4.0 licence. All we ask is a credit to Costwise, and online a link. Where your style allows, please make "Costwise" the linked word so readers can check the figure for their own region.
Costwise (2026): Carpet fitting typically costs £25 per m² in the UK, ranging from £15 to £40 per m². Reviewed July 2026. costwiseuk.co.ukSource: Costwise (costwiseuk.co.uk)Costwise (2026). Carpet fitting cost. Costwise UK cost data, version 2026-10-23. https://costwiseuk.co.uk/carpet-fitting-cost/2026-10-23 (158 jobs)Dataset DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21159943 · also on Kaggle, Hugging Face and Figshare. Method: how we price. Downloadable CSV.
These are independent guide prices based on typical UK jobs in 2026. Your actual cost depends on your property, spec, access and where you live. Always get at least three written quotes before committing.