One of the annoying things about doing work on a flat in England is that all work done needs Building Control approval from the local authority. Now, in itself that does not seem a bad idea: why not make sure your work meets the approval of an expert ? The answer is cost: even the smallest item can cost hundreds of pounds – even before you lay out a penny piece on materials.
I have been preparing such an application for insulating my flat – the ceiling first, and then perhaps the floor. The walls have cavity insulation, but as hot air rises, the flat above gets much of my heat: the resident even complained at having to open her windows to keep cool while I was huddled around the storage heater trying to keep warm. My floor is even worse; underneath me is an open car park which traps the cold winds and passes their coolth up to me through the concrete.
However, I am starting with the ceiling, because insulating the floor is much more complicated. Also, as I heard on the phone this afternoon, building control approval is not required for the ceiling, but is for the floor. Whoopee !